Lakeville Superintendent Finalists Set to Meet the Public

Lakeville residents will have a chance to face off with each of the vying for the school district’s superintendent position today and tomorrow. The public is invited to meet Bob Laney at 5 p.m. tonight in the lecture room. Residents will also be able to meet Lisa Snyder on Thursday evening.

The two candidates will spend their respective days touring the district and interviewing with staff, teachers and students prior to the public question and answer meetings. A 7:45 p.m. interview with the school board is also scheduled for each evening at the . Those interviews are also open to the public to observe.

The decision would seem crucial for a district coming off a stormy year in which it dealt with a , an and the elimination of approximately 90 teaching positions. Former superintendent on June 30 after a ten-year tenure also for the district.

The new superintendent will be called upon to help lead the district toward calmer waters and sunnier skies. Engaging the community will be an important step in that process as the district seeks to shore up an erosion of public confidence in what has traditionally been among the top education systems in the state.

Laney and Snyder have both been successful at handling difficult problems in other districts and both promise to bring a fresh start for Lakeville schools. Lakeville Patch takes a closer look at each candidate prior to their upcoming public meetings.

Bob Laney

Laney has served as the assistant superintendent of the St. Louis Park school district since 2007 and has spent the vast majority of his 30-year education career as an administrator within that district. Laney’s current duties also include acting as the district’s human resource director as well as leading the technology and gifted-student programs.

St. Louis Park has approximately 4,400 students within the district.

Prior to accepting the assistant superintendent position, Laney served 11-years as principal for St. Louis Park High School. His tenure there saw the high school rise from a lackluster culture to national prominence with a mention in Newsweek magazine as being among the best high schools in the nation.

Laney’s involvement with the development and implementation of the Building Assets-Reducing Risks (BARR) program was a factor in that improvement.

The BARR program focuses on providing a foundation for 9^th-grade students as they enter high school and is designed to decrease substance abuse, academic failure, truancy and disciplinary incidents through positive involvement strategies. It was first introduced during Laney’s tenure as principal in 1999.

During that time, 9^th-graders at St. Louis Park High School went from experiencing 44 percent of students failing at least one or more of their classes to less than 14 percent by the end of 2011 according to Minneapolis-based Search Institute who conducts training for the program. Laney has worked with the institute as a trainer and has assisted in the implementation of the program in numerous other districts.

The program has since been listed in the National Registry of Evidence-based Programs and Practices (NREPP) and was recognized by the U.S. Department of Education in 2010 with a nearly $5 million grant to expand implementation into other states.

The program highlights an innovative approach to establishing a positive culture – a seemingly desirable quality for the Lakeville district.

Laney has also guided St. Louis Park through an elementary school closure, budget cuts and, according to the district’s search firm School Exec Connect, “created a much different relationship with union groups.”

Lisa Snyder

Snyder was hired as the superintendent of the Merrill Area Public Schools in Wisconsin in 2009. Prior to that position she served terms as principal of the Holmen Middle School and Viking Elementary School in Holmen, WI. Snyder has also served as the Director of Instruction in Sparta, WI and Director of Technology at Winona Cotter High School.

Merrill has approximately 3,100 students in the district.

The Merrill school district has also undergone sizeable budget cuts and Snyder has sought to re-engage the community there to build support after taking over following two failed levy referendums – a scenario Lakeville is too familiar with.

Snyder has emphasized community transparency and continuous improvement during her two years at the Merrill helm and has been actively involved with community organizations and community communication efforts to help build support.

Snyder’s approach to the curriculum has utilized the Malcolm Baldrige Performance Excellence Criteria for Education, a philosophical, research-based approach to leadership and management. Snyder used the program to help define specific strategic goals for the district that could be steadily measured and monitored for progress to drive success.

Snyder’s data-intensive approach also included stakeholder perception surveys and other strategic goal indicators to help track satisfaction and create proactive action plans. Results and progress were communicated with the public regularly via a District Dashboard to again increase community involvement.

“Our district has achieved success by renewing our partnership with the community and working side-by-side on innovative problem-solving to create a culture in which challenges are addressed in a positive manner,” said Snyder in a recent school district publication regarding the state of the school district following the 2010-2011 school year.

The informational publication is another example of Snyder’s efforts to engage the community through communication, transparency and measurable results.

Snyder was also a finalist for the Rochester, MN superintendent position in May.

Public Interview Sessions: Bob Laney tonight, Lisa Snyder Thursday night. Both sessions will be held at 5 p.m. at Lakeville South High School lecture room, 21135 Jacquard Ave.