[Music] After close to four years with Edina Public Schools, Superintendent Dr. Stacy Stanley has accepted a new position outside the city. As of April 18th, she leads the state's second largest school district as superintendent of St. Paul Schools. Before a permanent replacement is chosen, the district will be led by Dr. Daniel Bitman. Edina TV introduces us to him as he shares his plans for carrying the torch. Is this through fifth or sixth grade? Dr. Daniel Bitman is learning the landscape of Edina Public Schools. Starting with navigating the busy hallways of Normandale Elementary, but he's no stranger to the world of education. I've been really fortunate in my career to start as a teacher and to work my way up through various administrative roles. Oh, that was nice to have a friend. You can say it's a lifelong passion. And do you know what the dog's name is? Aul. Dr. Bitman recently retired as superintendent of the Elk River Area School District, but was compelled to return to work on an interim basis in Edina. Well, I've been so fortunate to just work with amazing people just looking to do great things for kids and family, staff, and community, and that's been where my heart is. Um, I too have three children, and so it's personal to me. incredibly grateful. He takes over for Dr. Stacy Stanley, who served the district as superintendent since 2021, continuing her work on the school's strategic action plan. One of the beautiful things about the Edina public schools is the opportunity to access so many different types of programming for every student. Dr. Bitman also continues a close and necessary relationship with the city in two key areas, public safety and public development. first and foremost is public safety. Uh our our school resource officer program went on pretty good. That's awesome. Our communications that we that we have when there's an event uh with the schools, very important, very important to the public. Also important, sharing information as the community grows. It's the single most important relationship we have as an organization because real estate values and the reason that people move here really is so much of it is linked to having high quality public schools. Oh my goodness, I don't think there can be a more important relationship. Just like these students, Dr. Bitman sees an opportunity to learn with and from each other. And I think it's crucial to make sure that we have that partnership. We're creating efficiencies, but we're also making sure that we're partnering along the way, and our families deserve that. A temporary role. We're going to welcome him in as as quickly as we can, but an important transition. And so nice to meet you. Nice to meet you, Maria. Maria, nice to meet you. I'm Dan Carpenter for Adina TV. The school board will begin the search for a permanent superintendent in the fall. The permanent superintendent will begin in July 2026.