Editor’s note: John Thein was named interim superintendent of St. Paul Public Schools this week. This story ran in August of 2015 as he was retiring from the Roseville school district.
Despite nearly two decades leading a metro-area school district, the only thing John Thein is comfortable taking credit for is his full head of hair.
The 65-year-old jokingly points to his thick, white coif as he’s asked to reflect on his accomplishments as superintendent of the Roseville Area School District during a recent interview in his nearly empty office.
Thein doesn’t mention his perfect school levy-passage record, or the fact that no tenured teacher was ever laid off under his watch.
He fails to point out that 17 years in the top spot is highly unusual in a suburban school district, where most superintendents stay an average of five.
And while he eagerly boasts about the district’s dual-language immersion program, year-round elementary school and early adoption of a progressive equity vision, he shrugs off any hand he had in them.
“Honestly, I’m almost embarrassed talking about this because they are the result of lots of people,” Thein said.
“You can’t do anything without good people around you, and I have been blessed with really good school boards … great staff,” Thein said. “The only thing I can take some personal pride in is my hair. … I really do have a lot of it.”
From her desk outside Thein’s office, his longtime executive assistant Merrie Zakaras pipes in: “He has always, always, always given the credit to everyone else.”
His humility seems to run so deep, an outsider might assume it’s an act at times. The same could be said about his level of appreciation for others.
This is a guy who calls his critics “some of our best teachers” without the slightest curl of his lip.
But those who have come to know him over his exceptionally long administrative career insist that Thein is a longtime superintendent who made few waves and was genuinely well-respected by the community.
He was also commended for his leadership during seismic demographic shifts in the district and for treating his roughly 1,000 staff members as family.
“John walked the talk,” recalled Gary Atchison, a maintenance engineer in the district for 37 years. “He knows everybody by name; it doesn’t matter what building, what position. … At times as a custodian, you can feel like you are the bottom of the barrel, but he made sure everybody felt important. … Of all the superintendents I’ve worked for, he was top notch.”
Former state Rep. Mindy Greiling described Thein as a wizard behind a curtain who hasn’t gotten nearly the recognition he deserves. Greiling served on the district’s school board for a portion of Thein’s term.
“Some districts see their superintendents succeeding or failing in high profile, but we don’t have those ups and downs and huge cliffs and hearings with hundreds of angry people because we’ve had John Thein,” Greiling said. “He isn’t flamboyant and out there and asking everybody to look at him. … He’s just a man who makes everything work.”
CHANGING DISTRICT DEMOGRAPHICS
Raised in what he calls a “Leave it to Beaver” family in Clara City, Minn., Thein is the youngest of six.
He landed his first job in education as a teacher and coach in Osakis, Minn., in 1972. His career path led Thein and his family to Roseville in 1988, when he was hired as the district’s director of business services. Ten years later, he became its fifth superintendent.
When he started, less than 10 percent of students in the district were students of color. That number is now 50 percent, mirroring trends seen in Minneapolis, St. Paul and several other inner-ring suburban school districts. The number of students receiving free and reduced-price lunch also ballooned.
While big changes in student populations bring challenges, Thein sees his district’s diversity — more than 60 languages besides English are spoken in students’ homes — as one of its greatest strengths.
It also paved the way for what nearly everyone interviewed said will be a big part of his legacy.
As the district changed around him, Thein and other staff members were pioneers among suburban districts, crafting language that recognized the diversity of students and demanded equity.
In 2005, the district adopted its Equity Vision, which promises an equitable and respectful learning environment for all students and staff regardless of “race, gender, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, ability, home or first language, religion, national origin, age or physical appearance.”
It’s grown to infuse conversations on curriculum, discipline, accessibility to activities, hiring and even calling snow days.
“We just said let’s put a stake in the ground and say this is what people have to live by and those who can’t … maybe need to find another place to work, but we are going to treat people here with respect,” Thein said. “It’s really the heart and soul of what we do.”
DEEPLY EMBEDDED VALUES
Juanita Hoskins, Roseville’s director of educational equity, remembers a back-to-school meeting held several years ago when Thein stood up and spoke to the issue.
“He said to us … ‘I can’t tell you what to do when you go home, but when you come to Roseville Area schools, my expectation is that you will treat people, all people, equitably and with respect,” recalled Hoskins, then a middle school principal. “I almost started crying. … People needed to hear him say that, being a white guy … not just me as a woman of color. … That took a weight off many of us who wanted to live the vision.”
His leadership on equity issues has been “inspiring” and “remarkable,” said Minnesota Education Commissioner Brenda Cassellius, who counts Thein as a mentor.
“He just knew it was the right thing to do,” Cassellius said. “(Roseville) reaffirms that vision every year, too, so the values are just so deeply embedded. … It’s amazing.”
That doesn’t mean the district is without the same stubborn challenges as others. Black students in Roseville schools trailed white peers by more than 35 percentage points on statewide math and reading tests last year, scores roughly on par with statewide achievement gaps. District staff is still predominantly white.
But there are less easily measured ways it’s made a difference, Hoskins said, such as the way students feel in buildings and the ability to have uncomfortable conversations about race.
Thein is hopeful those tough talks will continue, both in Roseville and statewide.
“Race is the issue we all have to be talking about,” Thein said. “There is a gap, and that’s because a lot of kids in the past have been underserved, and our goal is to make sure they’re not in the future. … We’re not there yet.”
NEVER TIRED OF VISITING KINDERGARTEN
Other peaks of Thein’s career include convincing the school board in the 1990s to develop land it owned near Lake Owasso into a housing development, creating about $5.5 million in profit for the district.
He also helped add Harambee Elementary to Roseville’s slate of schools last year. The year-round integration school was formerly part of the East Metro Integration District.
A whiz at school finance, Thein repeatedly balanced district budgets without gutting programs and convinced residents to approve every operating levy up for a vote during his tenure, even though only 13 percent of households in the district have children.
There were challenges.
The district fell in to statutory operating debt shortly after he took over — Thein is praised for how he responded to it, though — and changes to the district’s math curriculum years ago stirred up some strong emotions from some in the community. Waters also got choppy when the district began talking about artificial turf for an athletic field, recalled Kitty Gogins, a school board member.
“It’s amazing how little controversy there was with him, though,” Gogins said. “Of course, nobody is going to be pleased with everything you do, but John is very good at working with people and listening to what they have to say, and so generally, he had really strong community support.”
That support even extended to the district’s teachers union, which can sometimes have an adversarial relationship with administrators.
“Ours was just the opposite, actually,” said Dan Beck, president of Education Minnesota Roseville. “Even when we didn’t see eye to eye, it still felt like (Thein) valued your opinion.”
But Gary Grefenberg, a longtime Roseville resident who used to serve on the district’s Human Rights Commission, said he is ready to see new leadership.
“I think there could be more public engagement than we currently have with the (superintendent and the school board), so I look forward to some changes in that regard,” Grefenberg said.
Thein called his work “a cream-puff job,” compared with what some other superintendents have to tackle.
After all these years, Thein said he’s never tired of visiting kindergarten classes or the district’s senior center. He said he still counts the high school cafeteria among his favorite restaurants in Roseville, and he’s obsessed with the numbers 6, 2 and 3. Roseville is District 623.
He really does see his staff as family, writing each a personal letter at the start of the school year and attending funerals when they lose loved ones.
The “family” stuff is not just hot air, staff say.
“He truly does care about his staff, and people feel that,” said Jenny Loeck, principal of Roseville Area High School. “He likes to remove his title and just be approached as John, a real person. … That sincere handshake approach has been really valuable.”
That, combined with his willingness to listen, even to those who disagreed with him, is what’s kept Roseville out of the news and on track, Cassellius said.
“You can’t bulldoze change. You have to bring people along with you, and John knew that,” she said. “Obviously, there is still work to do, but boy is he leaving that district in a good spot.”
Flattered, the attention is a little uncomfortable for introvert Thein, who surprisingly prefers to fly under the radar.
The return of some level of anonymity is one of the things he’s most looking forward to in retirement, he said, plus having more time to be with his wife, Pam, children and grandchildren.
He said he’s not worried about Roseville’s future. The district hired Aldo Sicoli, former superintendent of Robbinsdale Area Schools, to replace him.
“He will be a wonderful leader. … I really think the best days of our district are ahead of us, not behind,” Thein said. “I’d like to thank the community and staff for putting their faith in me for as long as they did. … It’s been a marvelous career.”
Sarah Horner can be reached at 651-228-5539. Follow her at twitter.com/hornsarah.