JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Duval County’s School Board narrowed its candidates for the next superintendent to six semifinalists Tuesday, planning to choose finalists after those six send written and videotaped answers to board questions.
The board will meet again May 7 to make the next cut from the list compiled Tuesday:
- Christopher Bernier, who applied before resigning this month as superintendent of the Lee County school system around Fort Myers
- Josiah “Joe” Phillips, chief information officer for Broward County’s 256,000-student school district
- Cheryl Proctor, deputy superintendent for instruction and school communities in Portland, Ore.
- Daniel Smith, chief of staff for the 83,000-student Loudon County, Va. school system in Washington’s suburbs
- Luis Solano, a deputy superintendent in Detroit’s school system whose application includes a reference letter from former Duval Superintendent Nikolai Vitti
- Adam Taylor, superintendent for Rutland, Vt. schools and former regional superintendent for the 29,500-student school system in West Contra Costa, Calif.
A law firm tapped by the Florida School Boards Association will perform background checks on the semifinalists — “we look at facts, rather than rumor,” Association CEO Andrea Messina assured the board — while the candidates work on answering questions ahead of the finalist decision.
Each of the School Board’s seven members drafted a “deal-breaker” question meant to address some aspect of how the would-be superintendents would handle running the country’s 20th-largest school district.
The candidates will be asked to answer some questions in writing — 500 words or less per answer — while others must be videotaped to help the board get a more human sense of the people who want to lead the school district.
Candidates have to get their answers back early next week to Messina's team staffing the search, and those responses are scheduled to reach School Board members by May 2.
Once the board chooses finalists, they'll be brought to Jacksonville for in-person interviews and meetings May 13 and 14. That time in Jacksonville will include a meet-and-greet session with the public as well as talks with focus group members that include residents, teachers and school administrators and others.
The board is scheduled to meet May 23 to choose the next superintendent.
The search began last year, after former Superintendent Diana Greene retired and longtime administrator Dana Kriznar was tapped to lead the district until a permanent sucessor was picked.
This story first appeared on the Florida Times-Union.