The St. Paul school board stayed close to home Thursday in its selection of three finalists to serve as the district's next superintendent.

They are Brenda Cassellius, a former state education commissioner who led an east metro integration district that drew students from St. Paul, and Rhoda Mhiripiri-Reed and Stacie Stanley, superintendents of the Hopkins and Edina school districts, respectively.

The three were among only 21 applicants for the top job in the state's second-largest school district. Seven were interviewed privately this week as part of the national search.

St. Paul board members said Thursday they were satisfied with the field of finalists.

"We want our job to be really, really, really hard," member Carlo Franco said of the decision that faces the board in a few weeks. "I think that is going to be very evident."

The district is seeking a successor to Joe Gothard, who came to St. Paul from the Burnsville-Eagan-Savage School District in 2017 as part of a 67-candidate field. He went on to serve nearly seven years at the helm before returning in May to his hometown of Madison, Wis.

Tough challenges await the next schools chief.

Enrollment is up slightly this year to 33,469 students, but, even if it holds steady in 2025-26 as projected, the district could face a budget deficit of up to $44 million, recent estimates show.

This week, the board received an academic progress report showing little in the way of test score improvements and marks so low that Board Members Yusef Carrillo and Halla Henderson described the situation as "troubling" and "devastating."

But intervention efforts are underway, the board was told.

Here's a look at the superintendent finalists:

Brenda Cassellius

CEO, Fresh Energy, a St. Paul nonprofit

Education: Doctorate in organizational leadership and policy from the University of Memphis.

On the job: Started her career as a St. Paul Public Schools teacher and then held administrative positions with Minneapolis Public Schools, Memphis City Schools and the East Metro Integration District before being appointed state education commissioner by Gov. Mark Dayton. Later, she was superintendent of Boston Public Schools, serving 50,000 students and more than 10,000 staff members.

In the news: Cassellius comes from a long line of educators, including two grandparents who were professors at a historically Black college. She faced a steep learning curve when appointed education commissioner, but was up to the challenge, the Star Tribune reported in 2011.

While serving as commissioner, she lost out to Ed Graff in a 2016 bid to become superintendent of Minneapolis Public Schools.

In 2017, when it became clear the state was nowhere near its goal of cutting the achievement gap in half — it hadn't budged over a five-year period ― Cassellius said test scores were just a part of the story, and other measures like graduation rates and academic progress over time should be taken into account.

Cassellius became superintendent of Boston Public Schools in 2019. After a sometimes-rocky three-year tenure, her departure was announced as a mutual decision between herself and the city's mayor, Boston Magazine reported.

Cassellius later applied for superintendent openings in Osseo and Memphis.

Rhoda Mhiripiri-Reed

Superintendent, Hopkins school district

Education: Doctorate in education leadership from Harvard University.

On the job: Began her career as a St. Paul Public Schools teacher and moved on to leadership roles at school systems in Monterey, Calif., and Washington, D.C., before taking the top job in Hopkins in 2017, where she oversees 6,900 students and more than 1,000 staff members.

In the news: A 2018 Star Tribune profile took note of Mhiripiri-Reed being the first woman and person of color to lead the Hopkins district. Dubbed "Dr. M.R." by colleagues, she spoke with pride about girls looking to her as a role model and vowed to make the district the first in the state to close the achievement gap.

In 2020, Mhiripiri-Reed tapped four students to recommend whether the district should remove police from Hopkins High, and the school board eventually agreed to do so — a few months after the same action was taken in the Minneapolis and St. Paul school districts.

As board chair for the nonprofit Black Men Teach, Mhiripiri-Reed successfully lobbied state legislators in 2021 to provide $750,000 in one-time funding to assist the group with its effort to add Black male teachers at eight metro area elementary schools.

Stacie Stanley

Superintendent, Edina school district

Education: Doctorate in educational leadership from Bethel University.

On the job: Began her career as a teacher in the East Metro Integration District and then served as a principal in the Roseville Area Schools and an administrator in the Burnsville-Eagan-Savage and Eden Prairie systems. In 2021, she took the helm in Edina, serving 8,600 students and more than 1,300 staff members.

In the news: As associate superintendent of academics and innovation in Eden Prairie, Stanley helped guide development of online offerings in what became EP Online — launched in 2018-19 before the COVID pandemic made virtual learning a necessity.

In 2022, Stanley was named a graduate school alumna of the year at Bethel University. When commended for her dedication to coaching leaders, she said it was all for the students: "Our kids today are our leaders tomorrow."

Each of the three candidates will visit the district for a full day between Dec. 16 and 18. The school board is expected to select a preferred candidate on Dec. 18 or 19, the school district said.