SANB superintendent bought out

The St. Anthony-New Brighton (SANB) school board voted during a closed session on February 17 to buy out the remainder of Superintendent Dr. Renee Corneille’s three-year contract. The contract was scheduled for review in June 2027. She will remain superintendent of St. Anthony Schools until June 30 of this year.

A press release from the school district cited “recent changes in district governance” as the prompt for “modifying” the employment agreement.

As part of the new agreement, Corneille will receive full compensation for the 2025-2026 and 2026-2027 school years. According to a school “report card” published on mn.gov by the Minnesota Department of Education (MDE), Corneille received a salary of $181,000 for the 2024-2025 school year. According to govsalaries.com, that’s 27% higher than the average Minnesota superintendent’s pay.

In the 2024-2025 school year, the district confirmed, her salary jumped by 13% to $204,530, and increased to $212,711 this year. The 2026-2027 budget calls for a $221,220 salary.

St. Anthony Schools had a budget of $35,328,875 for the 2024-2025 school year. The district spends approximately $13,885 per student each year, about $2,000 less than the statewide average. It receives 95% of its funds via state and local levies; the rest comes from the federal government.

The high school’s graduation rate last year was 91.3%, down from 92.5% in 2020, when COVID-19 ravaged the state.

Controversy, teacher attrition

Last spring, the Northeaster received a letter signed by a “Concerned Parent.” (The paper does not publish anonymous letters.) The writer said they had attended a meeting on March 12, 2025 “where nearly 100 parents, teachers, and the principal of the middle school attended. It was eye-opening.”

The writer said people talked about a toxic work environment and a failure of the administration to support teachers. They said many teachers were leaving, or planning to leave, the district.

In response, then-School Board Chair Ben Phillip sent out a message that included a chart showing staff turnover rates in metro area independent school districts like SANB. He cited 2023 figures from the Minnesota Report Card. Robbinsdale, Centennial and Mahtomedi had the lowest turnover rate, at 15%. Fridley was highest, approaching 26%. Neighboring Columbia Heights’ turnover rate was slightly over 20%. St. Anthony was in the middle, with approximately 16%. The state average is 18%.

Phillip noted that “staff” could include cafeteria workers, office workers and custodians as well as teachers. Teacher contracts are regularly reviewed in the spring. He also said newly minted teachers are considered probationary employees. They are evaluated three times during the school year to check their progress and to be coached by school principals in areas of improvement.

Scores and class disruptions

The Northeaster attempted to reach parents who were upset over the prospect of losing well-regarded teachers. One agreed to talk on condition of anonymity; they feared revealing their identity would result in “retribution” for their kids.

The parent said they had moved their family from Northeast Minneapolis ten years ago to St. Anthony because of the schools’ reputation. “We were very happy with the schools,” they said.

The parent was not happy with the district’s response to the COVID pandemic. “As an observing parent, the district didn’t seem to get its act together. The kids seemed to lose about one and a half years of education. Standard test scores used to be up with Edina. Then they went down and down.”

They have since moved their oldest child to DeLaSalle. They said other parents have sent their students to St. Charles Borromeo or are homeschooling them. They said one family has been driving their kids to Minnetonka.

At the meeting last March, the parent said, teachers discussed frustrations over disruptions and a lack of administrative support. “My middle child had a good teacher in fourth grade,” they said. “She quit because she didn’t feel her classroom was safe for the kids.”

Superintendent’s response

Last spring, Superintendent Corneille said the “perception that people are leaving in droves” was inaccurate. “We’re not seeing anything unusual,” she said.

She noted that the district’s demographics have changed. “We are not the same as we were 10 years ago.” While SANB schools are still predominantly white, Black/African American and Hispanic/Latino student populations have increased to almost 30%, according to MDE. “We have doubled our ELL (English language learners) and Special Ed students,” Corneille said.

Regarding test scores, Corneille said in 2018-19, district teachers and staff worked together to introduce more academic rigor into St. Anthony classrooms. The approach is meant to develop students’ depth of knowledge. Instead of an instructor merely imparting information to a child, the student is asked to tie that content to a skill. “Change is hard,” Corneille said. “It’s going to be hard for a while.”

She added, “Kids have told us they want to be challenged: ‘I want my teachers to ask me to do harder things.’”

Parent/teacher coalition

Disgruntled parents and staff coalesced into the SANB Parent Coalition for Teachers and Students following the March meeting. They began digging into data, the resignation of Wilshire Park Principal Aurora Remer and a student-on-student sexual assault.

Dissatisfaction also found a voice on the SANB School Board. During a meeting on April 1, 2025, Phillip said, “We are directing the Superintendent to lead this district toward clear and measurable student success goals. That means following through on the goals we’ve set, the success metrics we’ve identified and the direction that we’ve given. This is not a suggestion. This is not optional. It is the charge of this Board’s role… If those outcomes do not materialize and if this direction is not fully executed, we are prepared to have a conversation about new leadership. This is not a threat. This is governance.”

Throughout last spring and summer, the coalition asked the administration for answers about declining test scores and the district budget, including a travel budget that ballooned from $93,000 in fiscal year 2023 to $276,000 two years later. 

At the September 16, 2025 school board meeting, Dr. Cassandra Palmer said, “I am super unhappy with where we are at. I’m going to say on behalf of everyone sitting up here: No one on the School Board is happy with the actuals — even though we have done a little better, marginally better or really better —  it’s still unacceptable.”

Before the November general election, the coalition recommended a slate of candidates for school board. Annie Bosmans, Laura Haas, Dr. PJ Striker and Dr. Daniel Turner were all elected to the board.

The Northeaster was unable to reach Corneille for comment. A source familiar with the situation said Corneille has filed a hostile workplace complaint.

What’s next?

An article in the January 14, 2026 Brighter Bulletin published by the SANB board mentioned the discussion of enrollment projections for the 2026-27 school year.

Superintendent Corneille said if student numbers equal this year’s enrollment of 1,924, there will be a budget deficit. A spokesperson for the school district said St. Anthony-New Brighton Schools regularly reviews multi-year revenue and expenditure projections as part of its standard budget planning process. The district remains financially stable and continues to plan responsibly for future budget cycles.

SANB announced Laurel Hood, clerk, is moving out of St. Anthony, thus creating a vacancy on the school board. The position will be filled by appointment. The appointee would finish out the term through Dec. 31, 2027. Apply by March 20 at https://bit.ly/4b5sfbr.

A search is on for new principals at Wilshire Park and St. Anthony High School.

Although it has not been announced at the time of reporting, a search will soon begin for a new superintendent as well.