The Duval County School Board unanimously approved six semifinalist candidates Monday morning after some early meeting fireworks over one board member’s statements to the media.
The six candidates the board will interview to become the next superintendent are Sito Narcisse, Erick Pruitt, Diana Greene, Harrison Peters, Michael Dunsmore and Frederick Heid.
Narcisse and Pruitt received seven votes, and the others received four to six votes.
The next step is May 11 and May 12 interviews with the board and with a 25-member focus group appointed by the board to represent community groups, parents, school staff and others.
The meeting got off to a contentious start after some on the board scolded co-member Scott Shine for making comments to the media about his preference that they wait until after elections this fall to choose a new superintendent. Shine is running for re-election and board chairwoman Paula Wright and Rebecca Couch are term-limited.
Couch and vice-chairwoman Lori Hershey told Shine he should have adhered to the board’s prior agreement to allow Wright to speak for the board about the superintendent search to present a united front. Hershey noted that Scott’s statements about a teacher blogger has already cost the district money from a recent out-of-court settlement.
Shine left the meeting a few minutes before it ended as Couch was speaking about the need to respect voters in her district who are asking for a quick hire of a superintendent.
Shine said these were personal attacks that were out of order.
Click here to read the Times-Union story, which provides details to the original 26 candidates.