A thank-you reception will be held from 5 to 7 p.m. on Nov. 29 for former St. Paul Public Schools superintendent Valeria Silva.
A program with several speakers begins at 5:45 p.m. at the Amherst H. Wilder Foundation, 451 N. Lexington Parkway. Appetizers will be served.
School-district employees, some retirees and associates were invited but the general public is welcome. The event is free.
In lieu of gifts, Silva has requested donations to The Sanneh Foundation.
School district spokeswoman Toya Stewart Downey said outside organizations and individuals will cover the costs, estimated around $2,500, but she declined to identify them.
“I believe those people and organizations wish to remain anonymous,” she said.
School-district employees have been planning the event during their lunch breaks, Stewart Downey said. The district paid about $40 to mail invitations to 79 people, she said, but that money will be reimbursed.
The school board in June voted to buy out the remaining two and a half years of Silva’s contract at a cost of $787,500 in salary and benefits. Silva, who joined the district in 1987 and became superintendent in 2009, agreed to serve in an advisory role through September 2017.
Stewart Downey said Silva has been consulting, advising and mentoring interim superintendent John Thein and others.
“They meet, they talk, they call each other,” she said of Thein. “She weighs in on things, answers questions that he might have.”
