Anoka-Hennepin Superintendent David Law is leaving the district this summer to lead Minnetonka Public Schools. (Jeff Wheeler, Star Tribune/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

Anoka-Hennepin Superintendent David Law is leaving the state's largest district to take the reins at Minnetonka Public Schools.

He starts the new position July 1 and succeeds Dennis Peterson, who is retiring after leading Minnetonka schools for 21 years.

The Minnetonka school board picked Law as its preferred candidate at its meeting April 21.

"He is an experienced, proven leader who we believe will help us to harness and preserve the focus on child-centered excellence across our school system and at the same time will infuse new energy into all we do as a district," Minnetonka school board Chair Chris Vitale said.

Law had one year left in his contract with the Anoka-Hennepin district, which he led for eight years. His annual salary there was $234,800.

The north metro district also paid $7,500 into a retirement annuity each year and provided up to $2,000 to cover the costs of Law's membership in professional education associations such as the Minnesota Association of School Administrators, according to a copy of his contract obtained by the Star Tribune.

The terms of Law's contract with Minnetonka haven't been negotiated yet, district spokeswoman JacQui Getty said.

Peterson's base salary for the 2021-22 school year was $262,650, Getty said.

Law said he wasn't looking to leave the district but had been repeatedly approached to apply to replace Peterson. He began to think about his tenure at Anoka-Hennepin and things started to line up, he said.

The district is in good financial shape, the school board isn't facing any looming elections and, Law said, he feels confident in his deputies' ability to carry on with the work he's led for nearly a decade.

"There's lots of reasons why this is a great time to transition leadership," Law said.

In a statement, Anoka-Hennepin school board Chair Marci Anderson hailed Law's accomplishments, in particular his administration's successful pitch to voters for a $249 million construction bond that increased capacity in several schools and paid for security and facility upgrades.

The district also posted steady gains in its graduation rates during Law's tenure, from about 86% of students earning a diploma within four years in 2015 to 89% in 2021. Law said in March that he was proudest of the gains homeless students made while he was at the helm at Anoka-Hennepin.

About 46% of homeless students graduated on-time in 2015. Six years later, 58% did.

"Anoka-Hennepin Schools has benefited from his commitment to excellence and his work has made a difference," Anderson said.

Minnetonka enrolls just over 11,000 students, about one-third as many as Anoka-Hennepin.

"It's bittersweet to leave a district that's been my home for such a long time," Law said. "I'm sad to leave and thrilled to go at the same time. It's an odd emotion."