Ann Arbor superintendent finalist Shelley Redinger removes name from consideration, accepts position in Virginia

“We certainly wish her well,” school board president Deb Mexicotte said. “She was a very interesting candidate to us, and all of our candidates are involved in searches, so it’s to be expected.”

Shelley Redinger

Redinger was one of three finalists for the superintendent position. The remaining candidates are Michael Munoz, chief academic officer of Des Moines Public Schools, and Patricia Green, superintendent of North Allegheny School District in Pennsylvania.

The Free Lance-Star in Fredricksburg reported Redinger signed a four-year contract with a base salary of $170,000. Spotsylvania County Schools have an enrollment of about 24,000 students.

Munoz is also a finalist for the superintendent position in the Eugene School District in Oregon. The Eugene school board intends to announce its decision on the next superintendent of their district at its March 16 meeting, according to The Register-Guard, a newspaper in Eugene, Ore.

Green announced she was leaving her district near the end of January, intending to seek another challenge.

Mexicotte said she doesn’t expect either of the two remaining candidates to remove their names from consideration.

Redinger has served as the superintendent of Oregon Trails since 2007. She has previously been a teacher at the elementary and middle school levels, a principal and an administrator in the district. Oregon Trail schools have an enrollment of about 4,000 students.

Redinger has a bachelor’s degree in arts and a master’s degree in education from Washington State University, a master’s degree in education and doctorate degree in philosophy in educational administration from the University of South Carolina.

The superintendent position has been vacant since October, when former superintendent Todd Roberts departed for a job in North Carolina. Administrator Robert Allen has been serving as interim superintendent for the 16,500-student district, but did not apply for the permanent position.

During her interview with the AAPS Board of Education, Redinger said she was interested in Ann Arbor because of the partnerships with local universities and believed the size of the district would work well for her.

“The size seems to be a very good fit for my skill set, and I would like to be somewhere for quite some time,” she said. “I love the partnerships with universities for the students and teachers and staff. I believe we’re only as good as our people, so we’d have first grabs on good student teachers, that’s a good plus for being in university towns.”

Mexicotte said Redinger’s decision to withdraw from the process would not affect the schedule for this week’s community forum and final interviews.

Patricia Green

Green and Munoz are scheduled to answer questions from community members from 6:30-8 p.m. Friday at the Pioneer High School cafeteria annex. After the question-and-answer period, community members can fill out a survey to note which candidate they favor, Mexicotte said.

The board will hold final interviews with Green and Munoz beginning at 9:30 a.m. Saturday at the Balas Administration Building conference room, 2555 State St. The board will go into a regular meeting after the final interview and make a final decision on who the next superintendent of AAPS will be, Mexicotte said. Community members are encouraged to attend.

Trustee Susan Baskett said she hoped Redinger found was she was looking for in her new district.

“She was very sweet,” Baskett said. “She was not in my top two when we all had to do our little rankings. She was well credentialed, but I didn’t think she would be the best fit for it.”

Michael Munoz

Mexicotte reiterated what she said after board members selected the three original finalists — she believed any one of them could be the next superintendent of AAPS.

She said Redinger had a range of accomplishments, most impressive among them was the improved relations with the teachers union in her district since she became superintendent.

Before Redinger arrived as superintendent, Oregon Trails and its teachers went through a contract negotiation process that culminated in a strike.

“She had a very professional but warm demeanor and is in the mid-stride of her career,” Mexicotte said. “I thought she was a very good candidate.”

Trustee Christine Stead said she was disappointed at Redinger’s decision, not only because board members are losing a candidate but because she was looking forward to each candidate completing the search process.

“We still have two excellent candidates to chose from that could do what we need them to do, but I really would have like to see three compete to the end,” she said.

Kyle Feldscher covers K-12 education for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at kylefeldscher@annarbor.com.