Austinites may well have been surprised by the Feb. 26 announcement that Meria Carstarphen would be their new school district superintendent, barring the unexpected.

Consider the folks in St. Paul.

While it was public knowledge that Car­star­phen is only four months from the end of her three-year contract with St. Paul Public Schools, the first inkling locals had that she was thinking about leaving came Feb. 19, when the Austin American-Statesman published her name. “My first reaction was it was just a way to move her negotiations up here,” said Mary Cathryn Ricker, president of the St. Paul Federation of Teachers.

But the rumor mill spun faster on Feb. 25, when the St. Paul Pioneer Press ran a breaking story: “St. Paul superintendent Carstar­phen spotted at airport just before Austin flight departs.” Soon after her announcement in Austin, the Pioneer Press website carried a statement from Carstarphen that it was with “mixed emotions that I accept Austin’s invitation.” The next day, her soon-to-be-ex-board issued its own release, stating that “our preference would be to have [Carstarphen] stay in St. Paul, but she has made her choice, and we must respect that.”

Does Ricker have any advice about Car­star­phen for AISD? She diplomatically said that, in her less than three years in the job, Carstarphen has become more engaged in dealing with the board and the union. “She’s definitely the kind of person where protocol, and establishing protocol, is important,” she said.

Now the St. Paul board will start its own superintendent search and (since Car­star­phen leaves in four months) discuss potential interim appointments. Ricker was optimistic about the upheaval. “I don’t think there’s any shell shock where it matters, and that’s in classrooms,” she said.

Meria Carstarphen – A Thumbnail Résumé

2006-present: Superintendent, St. Paul (Minn.) Public Schools

2004-06: Chief accountability officer, District of Columbia Public Schools

2003-04: Executive director for compre­hens­ive school improvement and accountability,
Kingsport (Tenn.) City Schools

2001-03: Independent consultant, Boston, Mass./Kingsport, Tenn.

1999-2001: Special assistant to the superintendent, Columbus (Ohio) Public Schools

This article appears in March 6 • 2009.

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The Chronicle's first Culture Desk editor, Richard has reported on Austin's growing film production and appreciation scene for over a decade. A graduate of the universities of York, Stirling, and UT-Austin, a Rotten Tomatoes certified critic, and eight-time Best of Austin winner, he's currently at work on two books and a play.