Orlando Ramos, one of three finalists for St. Paul schools superintendent, has withdrawn from consideration.
Ramos, 51, was scheduled to introduce himself to the community Wednesday night. He told the Pioneer Press on Tuesday that he no longer will pursue the job.
Earlier Tuesday, the Star Tribune reported that Ramos had filed for personal bankruptcy protection in 2009 and had not disclosed that fact.
In an email, Ramos told the Pioneer Press he did not intentionally withhold the information and he apologized for the distraction.
St. Paul is an amazing community and a place where I was hoping to live, contribute and, serve the families and students as we strive towards even greater achievement for our young people,” he said.
“I wish the St. Paul community the best as district leaders work to find the best candidate to lead St. Paul Public Schools.”
Ramos said that an attorney advised him and his ex-wife to file for Chapter 13 protection at the time of their divorce.
“We reorganized our debts and made payments according to the law. It was a painful part of our past for which we are still paying the consequences,” he said.
California bankruptcy court filings show Ramos and his ex-wife reported about $253,000 in assets and $555,000 in liabilities, including $260,000 in student loan obligations. He was working as a middle school principal at the time.
They fell behind on payments three times but cleared their debts in four years with payments totaling $48,400, the records show.
Ramos said he always has balanced budgets in the organizations he’s led.
“In large organizations there are safeguards in place to assure that public monies are spent according to law. There are dozens of signatures required when spending public monies,” he said.
Ramos is a regional superintendent for Milwaukee Public Schools, where he supervises high schools.
He had been a finalist for superintendent of Detroit’s newly reorganized public school system, but once St. Paul picked him as a finalist, he withdrew from consideration for the Detroit job because he was scheduled for candidate events in both cities on the same day.
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported Saturday that Ramos also is a finalist for the superintendent job in Cincinnati, Ohio.
“St. Paul plays to my strengths,” he told the newspaper. “They need a healer; they need a unifier.”
The St. Paul, Detroit and Cincinnati districts all have hired the same Iowa-based firm, Ray and Associates, for their superintendent searches.
With Ramos dropping out, the St. Paul school board has two finalists remaining: Burnsville superintendent Joe Gothard and Cheryl Logan, chief academic support officer for the Philadelphia school district.
They are expected to discuss their qualifications at a public event at 6 p.m. Wednesday at Washington Technology Magnet. With Ramos out, the event now is scheduled for just 90 minutes.
“While his withdrawal is disappointing, we are very confident that we have two strong candidates to be the next superintendent of Saint Paul Public Schools,” school board chairman Jon Schumacher said in a district news release. “The board respects Mr. Ramos’ decision and wishes him well.”
St. Paul has had an interim superintendent, John Thein, since the board removed Valeria Silva in June.