Superintendent
Minnetonka Public Schools
AASA Executive Committee Member
The AASA executive board met in early October to conduct the final round of interviews for the next AASA Executive Director. The hiring committee focused on the desired candidate attributes provided during listening sessions across AASA membership to identify the candidate best suited to lead the organization forward. The selected applicant began the negotiations process soon after the interviews were completed on October 14th. Representing Region 3 were David Law from Minnetonka and Deron Stender from Creston, IA. The entire panel had representation from Maine to San Diego and Washington State to North Carolina and included Superintendents from urban, suburban districts and rural districts ranging in size from a few hundred students to tens of thousands. The committee selected Dr. David R. Schuler as the next executive director. David will be replacing Dan Domenech, who is retiring in February 2023. Read the full release here: https://www.aasa.org/content.aspx?id=48372
AASA continues to focus Live Well Lead Well and is now pushing for leaders to Take Action for Mental Health in Your School Community. AASA’s new cohort will build on the ‘Live Well. Lead Well’ campaign to connect district leaders committed to serving the mental and general health of each other, their staff, and their communities. This group will work together to develop strategic plans to increase mental health services and support for all constituents, improve mental well-being for the school community, and program sustainability. Participants will connect with others in national leadership positions eager to create a coalition committed to taking action. The cohort’s first session was Monday, December 5. I heard a little bit about this from colleagues this fall and believe it will be a valuable use of time.
The AASA executive board will gather again January 11th through the 13th. This session will focus on the federal legislative session, transitioning the new Executive Director, and planning for the February governing board meeting. The governing board will meet on Wednesday, February 15th, ahead of the AASA National Conference on Education. Minnesota’s governing board members are Dan Bittman from Elk River, Chris Mills from Stephen-Argyle Central, Jeff Elstad from Owatonna, and Craig Oftedahl from Luverne.
You can find contact information for your AASA Governing Board members online at: www.mnasa.org/mn-aasa-governing-board.
