SPPS: New superintendent Stacie Stanley begins first week with district

Yahoo

14-05-2025

Among Stacie Stanley's memories of attending Mississippi Creative Arts Elementary School in St. Paul is winning a spelling bee and eating pizza, she told students at a recent visit where she also heard a student choir perform the school song.
The visit and performance was part of her first day — Monday — as superintendent at St. Paul Public Schools. Stanley popped in on schools she attended in her youth and explained to the students what a superintendent does.
'So you're like the president of the schools?' one student asked.
They're both big jobs, Stanley explained to students gathered in the school's cafeteria.
On Tuesday, she visited Harding High School to watch their unified track and field day — a Special Olympics event the district holds.
Since being selected for the position in December, the former Edina Public Schools superintendent has prepared by making a 100-day onboarding plan for herself which she'll use to gather and analyze information on the district to determine a formal set of goals and next steps that she'll present to the school board around August, she said.
The plan includes meeting with district and community members to learn more about the district; she's already met with Mayor Melvin Carter and has plans to meet with leaders of the St. Paul Federation of Educators — the teachers union.
'So there is no shortage of work that needs to be done, which is why I really needed to join St. Paul Public Schools earlier than July 1st,' Stanley said.
Among her early priorities are launching a superintendent-student leadership team and meeting with principals and other staff members as part of a process she calls 'principal plus one.'
Stanley is the district's first superintendent born, raised and educated in St. Paul in the district's more than 150-year history. She attended Mississippi Creative Arts School, Cleveland Junior High School – now Farnsworth Aerospace Upper Campus – Murray Middle School and Central High School.
'Who gets the opportunity to grow up in a district that shapes you and molds you into the person that you are, and then you get to come back and experience it as the new leader of that district? I think it's pretty rare, and it feels really good,' Stanley said.
She replaces interim Superintendent John Thein, who served as in the role since May 2024 after the departure of then-superintendent Joe Gothard. Gothard left SPPS to lead the school district in Madison, Wis., where he grew up and attended school. Thein also served as interim superintendent of St. Paul Public Schools from 2016 to 2017.
In a district-wide statement on Thursday, Thein thanked district members for the kindness they had shown him.
'Thank you for making me feel like a valued member of the SPPS community. As I head into retirement, I could not be more pleased to hand over the keys to Dr. Stacie Stanley, who starts as your new superintendent on May 12,' Thein said in the statement.
Stanley joins the district as the school board finalizes its next budget for the 2025-2026 school year, which the board is expected to vote on at its June 10 meeting.
The school board will see a proposed budget at its May 20 meeting and has received community feedback in recent months.
The district estimates $732.1 million in expenses in the coming school year, with an expected $51.1 million budget shortfall. The board has agreed to use $34.9 million in reserve funds for the shortfall, with the remaining $16.2 million to come from budget cuts and new revenue, according to the district.
The district attributes the budget shortfall to increased expenses — such as increased employee wages and benefits — rising costs of goods and services and no expected increases to state, federal or local revenue to adjust for inflation, outside of the base funding formula and local operating levy.
In Edina, Stanley oversaw six elementary schools, two middle schools and one high school, serving around 8,600 students, with more than 1,300 staff members, according to SPPS. St. Paul has more than 33,000 students and more than 6,000 staff, according to the district.
She'll receive a first-year salary of $270,000 with her short-term contract going through June 30, the school board decided in February. A long-term contract begins July 1 and ends June 30, 2028. She will receive an additional salary of $37,384 during the period of her short-term contract.
Her second-year salary was set at $275,400 and her third-year salary was set at $280,908, according to district officials.
In addition to her time in Edina, Stanley also served as associate superintendent at Eden Prairie Schools. She is the president-elect of the Minnesota Association of School Administrators and held leadership roles in the Burnsville-Eagan-Savage School District, Roseville Area Schools and East Metro Integration District.
Stanley also has worked in occupational therapy and as a math teacher. She eventually became director of the office of equity and integration for the East Metro Integration District. In her career, she has overseen curriculum assessment instruction and support services and English-learner programs.
Stanley has a doctorate in educational leadership from Bethel University and a master's degree in education and a bachelor's degree in K-8 elementary education from St. Catherine University in St. Paul.
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