By Keighla Schmidt, Staff Writer

After several dead-locked votes, Randy Clegg was chosen Thursday night (April 3) as the new leader in Burnsville-Eagan-Savage School District 191.

That decision came after about three hours of discussion as board members tried to line up leadership qualities with three candidates – Clegg, Michael Lovett and Nancy Rajanen.

The School Board eliminated Rajanen from the discussion early on when prioritizing the top four qualities desired of a superintendent and recognized those qualities were more closely aligned with Clegg and Lovett. Ranjanen is currently an assistant superintendent in the Robbinsdale Area School District and Lovett is currently an assistant superintendent in the Minnetonka School District. Both were finalists for the superintendent position in the White Bear Lake School District.

Teetering between the Lovett and Clegg, the Board took many votes.

“This is the best problem to have,” Board Chairwoman Vicki Roy said. “To have two candidates that are very qualified.”

Board Member Ron Hill said while he thinks it’s important the superintendent be visible, to him, it’s not about how many activities they can get to; but rather how they can balance everything.

Board Member Gail Morrison voiced her preference for Lovett, saying she felt he had a more collaborative mind. She also valued his “us” mentality and vision.

The consensus on Clegg came about after Board Member Sue Martin said she felt she wasn’t equipped with enough information to make a decision. She wanted to see what other members saw as each candidate’s grasp of the community and how well each listened to the needs of the district.

Board Member Dan Luth said it was clear to him Clegg really picked up on the nuances of the district. “He clearly picked up on the way the community is embracing diversity, celebrating diversity,” he said. “To me, that is a strong signal that he was listening.”

Board Member Todd Johnson agreed, saying experience in regards to diversity was an important factor to him when considering qualities of the next superintendent. Johnson said he felt Clegg had the diversity edge over Lovett based on answers given in the interviews.

In his job in Clinton, Iowa, Clegg has had direct experience with diversity on a school district level. Lovett’s racial diversity experience was not on a district level, but has been a personal one – his family has hosted exchange students.

Johnson said he thought it was important for the new superintendent to be well versed in diversity and they must have the ability to approach it in an effective way.

In his interview with the board on Monday (March 31), Clegg said he would embrace diversity through the staff and examine what needs to be tackled.

“The first step is to address what’s getting in the way of teaching,” Clegg said. “I plan to do a whole lot of listening.”

Diversity was also a notable part of his understanding of the need to capitalize on local entities, such as churches or businesses, to attempt to increase student achievement. “We have to look for every opportunity that’s out there,” Clegg said during his interview. “Use resources that have similar challenges and, possibly, similar solutions.”

To Board Member Nancy Banyard, another appealing aspect of Clegg was a cohesive group he helped establish, which was comprised of representatives from the city, county, state, school district, law enforcement and courts to create an efficient infrastructure and identify potential problems by recognizing and discussing patterns in children.

“This way, you can see how a student is suffering as a whole, not just a single slice,” Clegg explained when he talked about the group.

That was something Banyard really appreciated. “I really liked how he was able to work with the community and be proactive about issues,” she said.

In his interview, Clegg spoke at length about his ability to connect with the larger community. In Clinton, he “effectively led the district through a decade of declining enrollment, increasing poverty, limited financial resources, while increasing student achievement,” according to his application.

He also talked about a budgeting system he helped establish where he was able to assign a value to items in a categorical way and plainly explain to the public exactly what things would be changed if levies and referendums either failed or passed.

The system was an effective one, he said, because the levies started to pass after they hadn’t for years, despite declining enrollment and increasing poverty.

Although board members were split down the middle throughout the night, they stressed that all the candidates were superbly qualified to do the job, but ultimately they had to choose one.

Morrison said she felt Lovett’s strengths were superior, but recognized the need to come to a consensus as a board and chose a leader.

“I really supported all three candidates originally, but we had to choose one,” she said. “Randy will be great and will help move us to new things and grow as a district. I’m excited to see what it will look like under his leadership.”

Superintendent shuffle

Part of the district’s urgency to solidify its offer this week is a high turnover in superintendent positions throughout the metro area.

Clegg interviewed for the superintendent post in Sioux City, Iowa this week. He was also one of two finalists in Eau Claire, Wis., but was not chosen for that job.

As well, Lovett was being sought by another district. He was offered the superintendent position in the White Bear Lake School District Wednesday night, and had asked them to allow him to hear from District 191 prior to accepting or declining their offer.

The search has been a long road, and faced some set backs.

The district had originally honed in on a different set of finalists, including Barbara Pulliam, an associate professor at the University of Georgia, Joe Silko, superintendent of Grand Rapids School District, as well as Clegg. Pulliam and Silko both declined second interviews citing personal and professional reasons.

Roy said the next step would be to contact Clegg and offer him the job. In her previous conversations with him, she indicated his contract expectations were within the parameters the board had set -- between $145,000 and $180,000. Clegg’s currently salary is $126,696 and he is serving a district of 4,400 students.

Contingent upon acceptance, and contract negotiations, the School Board is expected to formally vote to hire Clegg at its April 17 meeting and he will be introduced at the partnerships luncheon on May 1.

Clegg will replace Superintendent Ben Kanninen, who will retire on June 30. He has led the district for the past 10 years.

 Keighla Schmidt can be reached at kschmidt@swpub.com.