Mpls. school board to decide fate of embattled superintendent pick

Updated: 11:13 a.m. | Posted: 7 a.m.

The Minneapolis School Board is expected to decide Tuesday night whether to continue contract negotiations with Sergio Paez. Last month, board members chose Paez to be the district's next superintendent but just after their vote, allegations became public of severe physical abuse of special needs students at a school in Paez's old district.

School board member Josh Reimnitz said the board will vote on whether to resume contract negotiations. If board members don't, Reimnitz said they may consider other options.

"We can do almost anything that we can bring forth a motion on," he said. "So a board member could bring forth a motion to revisit our finalist candidates, or go even beyond that. A board member could also bring up a motion to restart the search."

Reimnitz would not say what the board might decide. School Board Chair Jenny Arneson said in an email early Tuesday that it would not be "appropriate for me to speculate on the possible outcome before the actual vote." No other board members returned calls from MPR News.

Even with the superintendent contract on hold, Reimnitz and his colleague Tracine Asberry followed through with a previously planned visit to Holyoke, Mass. In their report, they say they were unable to get additional information on what happened at Peck School because of the investigation.

But the two confirmed much of what Paez told them in interviews — including that Holyoke's early literacy program was successful, and both attendance and graduation rates improved. Reimnitz and Asberry also learned that Paez struggled with the politics of his old position and did not always take public input into account in decision-making.

Last week, Paez flew back to Minneapolis to fight for the job. After meeting with some board members and other community leaders, he held several public meet-and-greets. At one gathering at a north side cafe, parents asked Paez how he would close the achievement gap and boost community involvement in the schools. No one asked him about the Peck School allegations.

Two days after the vote designating Paez as the board's top choice for superintendent, an advocacy group in Boston released a report alleging widespread abuse at Holyoke's Peck School. The Disability Law Center, citing claims from a former school employee, said students already suffering from emotional problems were illegally restrained and pinned down, locked alone in dark closets and thrown onto floors and against walls.

The Holyoke controversy concerns Bryan Barnes, who has three children in Minneapolis public schools, including a son with special needs. Barnes is among a vocal group of parents who want the superintendent search restarted.

"I wasn't really impressed with any of the candidates," he said. "We should be going with a new recruiting firm. There should be more input from the community as well," Barnes said.

For his part, Paez continues to defend his handling of the Peck situation. He points out that the Massachusetts Education Department signed off on an improvement plan more than two months before the allegations became public. But Paez said he understands the Minneapolis school board is in a tough spot.

"If the board decides not to move in that direction, I'm looking forward to hearing the reason to not continue the negotiations," Paez said.