“We know best”: Madison School Board approves superintendent contract before it becomes public
The Madison School Board approved a contract Monday to hire a Minnesota school administrator as the next superintendent before releasing details of the agreement to the public.
That’s a change from how the board handled the hiring process for its first choice for superintendent — who later backed out of the job — in February. This time, the contract with Carlton Jenkins, superintendent of Robbinsdale Area Schools in suburban Minneapolis, was not made public before the board unanimously approved the agreement during a special board meeting.
Jenkins, who is in his fifth year leading the Robbinsdale schools, will make $272,000 annually. The two-year contract will automatically renew for a third year unless the board chooses otherwise. Jenkins, 54, will be Madison’s first Black superintendent. He first day on the job will be Aug. 4.
District spokesman Tim LeMonds said in an email Jenkins is “not an official employee of the district until the contract is voted on,” adding Madison is “one of very few districts that publicly posts contracts.”
LeMonds also said the district is “not required to make a contract public until it is ratified by the board.” The contract was emailed to reporters soon after the vote.
A contract with Seguin, Texas, superintendent Matthew Gutierrez was publicly available before the board voted on Feb. 3 to approve that agreement.
The pay is more than what was agreed upon with Matthew Gutierrez, who was hired in an earlier search this year but rescinded his acceptance amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Gutierrez would have been paid $250,000.
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