Joe Gothard, St. Paul Public Schools superintendent, among finalists to lead Madison schools
ST. PAUL, Minn. — The leader of Minnesota's second-largest school district is in the running to lead Wisconsin's second-largest district.
St. Paul Public Schools Superintendent Joe Gothard is one of three finalists vying to become the next superintendent of the Madison Metropolitan School District (MMSD).
MMSD officials say Gothard, a Madison native, is one of about 60 people who applied for the job. He is up against Mohammed Choudhury, Maryland's former state superintendent of schools, and Dr. Yvonne Stokes, former superintendent of Hamilton Southeastern Schools in Indiana.
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"We are extremely pleased with the pool of candidates for this position. They each reflect the diverse needs of our community and the competencies that we agreed upon in November," said Nichelle Nichols, MMSD Board of Education president.
Gothard spent much of his career in education in MMSD. He moved to Minnesota in 2013 to lead Burnsville-Eagan-Savage School District 191 and became SPPS superintendent in 2017.
His tenure at SPPS coincided with the COVID-19 pandemic and a three-day teachers' strike in 2020. Another strike was averted in 2022.
SPPS approved a three-year contract for Gothard in 2022, which took effect in July 2023. His first year's salary was set at $256,000, with a 1.96% annual increase.
Gothard is 2024's Minnesota Superintendent of the Year and a finalist for National Superintendent of the Year, which will be announced on Feb. 15.
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SPPS and MMSD respectively have their state's second-highest enrollment numbers, which are comparable in size. SPPS says it has about 33,000 students enrolled this year, while MMSD counts about 25,000. SPPS oversees about 100 schools, which is double MMSD's amount.
Despite similar enrollment numbers, SPPS and MMSD are quite different when it comes to student diversity. White students make up about 40% of MMSD's enrollment but are just 23% of SPPS's school population. SPPS has more students of color and some of the state's most diverse schools.
Interviews with the three MMSD superintendent finalists will be livestreamed on Feb. 6.
NOTE: The original airdate of the video attached to this article is Dec. 18, 2023.
