St. Paul Public Schools Superintendent Joe Gothard, who ranks among the nation's longest-serving urban school leaders, is a candidate for a job elsewhere.

Most notably, back home.

On Monday, Gothard was announced as a finalist for the top schools job in Madison, Wis., where he was born and raised, and began his career as an educator.

He is one of three finalists now scheduled for interviews with Madison students and parents next Tuesday.

"I am honored to be selected as a finalist for this opportunity to return to Madison," Gothard said via text message. "I look forward to engaging with the Madison community in the interview process next week."

Gothard came to St. Paul Public Schools in 2017 after serving for four years as superintendent of the Burnsville-Eagan-Savage School District.

He is Minnesota's current superintendent of the year and a finalist for national superintendent of the year. The recognition comes in large part from his administration's handling of a $319 million pandemic funding windfall. Gothard is in the first year of a new three-year contract in St. Paul paying him $256,000 this year.

According to the local publication Isthmus, Madison had 25,139 students in 2022-23, compared with 32,316 in St. Paul.

Also vying for the Madison job are Mohammed Choudhury, a former state superintendent of schools in Maryland, and Yvonne Stokes, who has served as superintendent of Hamilton Southeastern Schools in Indiana. Interviews with the three candidates have been posted on the district's website.