MILWAUKEE — The Milwaukee Board of School Directors released its finalists in the search for a new superintendent on Friday.
"It's a new start, it's a new day, it's a new opportunity,” board president, Marva Herndon said.
Herndon said it’s a new opportunity for leadership after a troubling year for Milwaukee Public Schools. The board looked through dozens of applicants and narrowed it down to three finalists.
The candidates are listed below:
- Brenda Cassellius, former superintendent of Boston Public Schools, MA
- Joshua Starr, former superintendent of Montgomery County Public Schools, MD
- Andraé Townsel, current superintendent of Calvert County Public Schools, MD
"Whichever one is chosen will work extremely hard to make sure that parents are part of everything moving forward,” Herndon said.
Cassellius is the former superintendent of Boston Public Schools. According to her bio, she has spent three decades as an educator. Some achievements include securing millions of dollars of annual funding and passing new high school graduation standards.
Townsel is the current superintendent for Calvert County Public Schools in Maryland. He also led a district in Michigan out of a decades-long financial deficit.
Starr is the former superintendent of Montgomery County Public Schools in Maryland. He is also a graduate of UW-Madison.
"We spent a lot of days analyzing resumes, a lot of hours in meetings,” Herndon said.
TMJ4’s Megan Lee asked the board what qualities they looked for when searching for finalists.
"Strong leadership, clear vision for the district, making sure that they can make tough decisions so that we don't fall back into any bad patterns,” board director, Henry Leonard explained.
Check out: 'It's a new opportunity': MPS board and alumnus hopeful with superintendent finalists
Another quality the board and community shared was having someone personable.
"I'm just looking for somebody who cares about the students. Who cares about getting funding to the right places so that all students of different backgrounds can have equal resources to accomplish what they need to,” MPS alumni, Julian White said.
Interim MPS Superintendent Eduardo Galvan chose not to apply for this role. The board said they are grateful for his leadership during a difficult time.
"Without any arm twisting he stepped forward and volunteered to help lead us through this tumultuous year,” Herndon said.
Community members will have two opportunities on Feb. 6 to hear from and provide feedback on the superintendent finalists.
Stakeholder meetings with the finalists will be held in the auditorium at the MPS Central Office. The first session will run from 1:00 to 3:45 p.m., and the second will run from 5:30 to 8:15 p.m.
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