Rochester Public Schools selects new interim superintendent
Kent Pekel will succeed Michael Muñoz and become the next superintendent of Rochester Public Schools on July 1, the Rochester School Board announced Thursday evening.
Dr. Pekel will come to Rochester on an interim basis after serving as president and CEO of the Search Institute, a Minneapolis-based nonprofit dedicated to “conducting research and develop[ing] resources, tools, and practices for partner organizations.” He first assumed the role in 2012.
Before taking the Search Institute job, Pekel served as executive director of the College Readiness Consortium at the University of Minnesota, and notably spent five years working in Washington, D.C. as a White House fellow assigned to the director of the CIA, special advisor to the deputy secretary of state, and special assistant to the deputy secretary of education.
Board members voted unanimously to extend the contract to Pekel, saying they believed his experience in fostering “developmental relationships” with students would be valuable as the district moves past the pandemic.
“If we were looking in a more traditional world, I think I may have leaned differently, but with the non-traditional world we’re in and facing for the fall, I think Dr. Pekel is most suited to the issues the district is going to face,” said School Board Director Karen MacLaughlin.
Pekel beat out John Thein, former superintendent for Roseville Public Schools, and Christina Bembloom, current senior director of student support services at Eden Prairie High School, to earn the job. He will serve on an interim basis through the 2021-22 school year, and will be eligible to pursue the long-term job if he wishes.
Isaac Jahns is a Rochester native and a 2019 graduate of the Missouri School of Journalism. He reports on politics, business and music for Med City Beat.
