GAINESVILLE, FL (352today.com) – After two hours of deliberation and discussion, the School Board of Alachua County motioned to table the appointment of a superintendent for a special meeting on Nov. 4 at 6:30 p.m.
The special meeting on Monday night followed the board’s split vote to terminate Superintendent Shane Andrew at a meeting on Oct. 15.
The meeting started with citizens’ input.
Those who took the stand voiced their displeasure at the board handling Superintendent Andrew’s termination. One citizen called the superintendent’s termination a “clear violation of due process.” Another said, “We cannot continue to let strong leaders leave our community… it’s not about us, it’s about our children.”
The conversation then turned to the board.
Board Member Sarah Rockwell did not bring names of potential interim superintendents to the board, saying that “less than one week was not adequate time” to find a replacement. She believes the board should have allowed Superintendent Andrew to stay in place while a national search was conducted.
Board Member Tina Certain stood similarly to Rockwell and attended the meeting with no potential candidates.
“There needs to be more deliberation, more discussion before we make such a move,” said Certain.
Rockwell and Certain favored allowing Deputy Superintendent Cathy Atria to act as acting superintendent while searching for a permanent replacement. Board Chair Diyonne McGraw did not want Atria to feel “forced” into the position, while Board Member Kay Abbit questioned Atria’s job stability if the acting superintendent role became a long-term position.
Atria said her main struggle is what she reads in policy versus what she reads in her job description. She says policy talks about acting superintendent when the superintendent has been deemed “incapacitated and unable to serve,” while her job description requires her to act on the superintendent’s behalf when he is absent.
“I just need a little more time to talk with the general council and see what those specifics would be,” said Atria.
Board Member Leanetta McNealy said she struggled to find potential candidates. She said she reached out to 13 potential candidates, including Atria, who all said no.
McNealy said that unless the board does things differently, possible candidates for both an interim and permanent stay as ACPS superintendent will all decline the offer.
Board Chair Diyonne McGraw mentioned that the candidates she reached inside the school system all said no. She brought the names of three interim superintendent candidates to the meeting: Scott Schneider, the Chief of Schools for Duval County Public Schools; Dontarrious Rowls, former head of ACPS’s transportation; and Wanza Wakeley, a retired ACPS administrator.
Board Member Kay Abbit mentioned Kim Neal, ACPS’s current director of full-time enrollment (FTE), state reporting, and the Office of Student Assignment.
Abbitt, who motioned to terminate Andrew’s contract during his evaluation last week, said, “I have the utmost respect for Mr. Andrew. I think he is well-loved by the community; he’s a good man, and I like him personally. Making that move to terminate him last week was uncomfortable, but in this position, we’re supposed to be working for the kids.”
Rockwell questioned the selection of the candidates, including Wakeley, saying that she would have to potentially abandon retirement benefits to join the board. McGraw assured Rockwell and the board that she insisted Wakeley look into her retirement benefits to see if joining the board is feasible.
Rockwell further hesitated to appoint Neal, “I have nothing negative to say about Mrs. Neal, but her job as our state FTE reporting is absolutely critical…if that is not done correctly, we lose money. I don’t know who could do her job.”
Throughout the meeting, board members mentioned that the Florida School Board’s Association (FSBA) holds a list of retired superintendents who can temporarily join the school board while searching for a full-time superintendent.
McNealy and McGraw inquired with Andrea Messina, CEO of FSBA, who told them the only way a retired superintendent would want to work with ACPS is if a contract is written out detailing that they cannot be terminated from a board vote.
Certain motioned to move the decision for the superintendent until after newly-elected Thomas Vu takes over Board Chair McGraw’s seat on November 19. Rockwell seconded the motion, but board members McGraw, Abbit, and McNealy voted it down.
The board members unanimously agreed to table the superintendent’s discussion until November 4.
If the board continues the motion to terminate Superintendent Andrew’s contract, he will be entitled to 20 weeks of severance equal to his base annual salary of $180,500.