Superintendent Harvey announces plans to leave the district
6/27/2005 5:05 PMSaint Paul Public Schools Superintendent Patricia Harvey today (Monday, June 27) announced that she will leave the Saint Paul Public Schools December 31, 2005.
The announcement came after Harvey learned that she was not offered the superintendent's position with the Denver Public Schools. She was one of three finalists for the position and had interviewed in Denver last week.
"The process of applying for the position in Denver has been very difficult for me personally," Harvey said. "And it has affirmed that my need to challenge myself has not changed."
Harvey, who has headed Saint Paul Public Schools for the past six years, has led efforts by district teachers, administrators and support staff to transform the 42,000-student school system into what many local and national education leaders say is the envy of urban school districts throughout the nation.
She informed principals and districtwide administrators of her decision in an e-mail and spoke directly with Elona Street-Stewart, chair of the Saint Paul Board of Education.
"Dr. Harvey has provided outstanding leadership for our district," Street-Stewart said. "Under her stewardship, Saint Paul Public Schools has attained a national reputation in many areas. We have continued to narrow the achievement gap, put more decision-making power in the hands of schools, and provide top-notch instruction and services to the district's increasing population of second language learners."
The Board will begin planning for the transition as soon as it can coordinate meeting schedules, which could include preliminary discussions about the process for selecting a new superintendent.
Harvey was named superintendent April 15, 1999. Prior to that she served in a variety of teaching and administrative positions in Chicago Public Schools and joined the National Center on Education and the Economy in Washington, D.C. where she served as senior fellow and director of urban education and directed America's Choice School Designs. Harvey's educational background includes a bachelor's degree from Lincoln University, a master’s degree from Roosevelt University and a Ph.D. from the University of Illinois-Urbana.
 | | | | | | Past SPPS Superintendents
George P. Young
1970 - 1984
David A. Bennett
1984 - 1991
Curman L. Gaines
1991 - 1998
William A. Larson (interim)
1998 - 1999
Patricia Harvey
1999 - Present
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