Rocori schools pick new superintendent

Brad Kelvington, former superintendent of Aitkin Public Schools, has accepted an offer to take the same job at Rocori Public Schools, school officials said Friday night.

Kelvington will replace Scott Staska, who resigned in the spring after being charged with indecent exposure.

The Rocori school board voted unanimously Friday night to offer the position to Kelvington, and he's agreed to enter into contract negotiations, the Rocori school board said in a statement released late Friday. Board chairwoman Kara Habben said Kelvington met all the qualities the board was seeking. He has 28 years of educational experience, most recently at Aitkin schools, but also as a middle-school principal.

In 2017 he received the Minnesota Middle School Principal of the Year award, and in 1998 he was named South Dakota wrestling coach of the year.

Staska, 56, of Cold Spring, Minn., has been charged with several counts of indecent exposure since his arrest in March. All are misdemeanor offenses.

He was put on paid administrative leave after his March arrest and he resigned in April. School officials have indicated that they've heard of no similar accusations against Staska involving students or staff in the district.

Staska, who became district superintendent in 2002, had previously earned praise for his handling of a 2003 school shooting that left two students dead — Minnesota's first fatal school shooting. He was named the state's top superintendent in 2010 by the Minnesota Association of School Administrators.

John Thein, a former superintendent for Roseville schools, was named the interim leader of Rocori, which has about 2,000 students from Rockville, Cold Spring and Richmond.

Josephine Marcotty • 612-673-7394