Anoka-Hennepin Public Schools has begun searching for a temporary leader to take over for Superintendent David Law, who announced his departure for the Minnetonka district in April.
The application is open until June 3.
The district's head-hunting firm opened the candidate portal this week as Law finishes his eight-year career leading Minnesota's largest public school system. He starts at Minnetonka Public Schools July 1.
That's the same day the Anoka-Hennepin school board hopes to have Law's temporary replacement begin.
Board members opted to spend the rest of the calendar year searching for a permanent superintendent rather than trying to fill the position by the start of the 2022-23 school year.
Antoinette Johns, the School Exec Connect official advising the school board on the process, said the district's size — it enrolls about 38,000 students – already makes for a small candidate pool. Most superintendents, she said, work in districts with between 300 and 5,000 students.
Trying to fill the position in three months would shrink that pool further, she said.
The school board will interview its top four interim superintendent candidates on June 13 and June 14, according to the job posting. Those meetings will be open to the public. The interim superintendent will serve for the coming school year. Law's permanent replacement will begin July 1, 2023.
The district did not post a salary for the interim position.
Law earned $234,800 during the final year of his tenure, according to his contract. The Anoka-Hennepin district also paid $7,500 into a retirement annuity and provided $2,000 to cover the cost of Law's membership in a professional education association.
Law said he wasn't looking for a job when he was approached to apply for the Minnetonka position.
The same firm scouting Law's replacement at Anoka-Hennepin also led the search for the superintendents for the Brainerd and Lakeville districts this year. Minneapolis Public Schools is also searching for a permanent superintendent after Ed Graff announced his departure.
That district's school board appointed MPS Assistant Superintendent Rochelle Cox as an interim replacement.
