- May 5, 2024
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With Janet Valentine’s tenure as superintendent of the Flagler County School District coming to an end, the School Board is beginning the process of selecting her replacement, though a clear frontrunner has already emerged.
“Personally, I think we’ve got the correct candidate in line,” said School Board member Andy Dance, referring to the district’s assistant superintendent, Jacob Oliva.
The board decided to conduct a local search for a new superintendent as well as host a public forum to get insight from residents into what qualities the community wants in Valentine’s successor. Some board members said they believe both exercises will point to Oliva.
“It would take an outside rock star to change my opinion,” Dance said.
Valentine, who will be retiring at the end of the school year, told the board during a meeting on Tuesday that it could use a consultant to conduct a national search at a cost of about $22,000.
The reason the cost is so high is in part because the board decided to end its membership in the Florida School Boards Association, a requirement for conducting a national search through the consultant. The board would have to reinstate its membership for $9,000 before paying a $9,000 fee for using the recruiting agency. Advertising costs would have pushed the cost above $20,000.
The board was vehemently opposed to spending that amount of money months after making widespread cuts to the district’s budget. Such an expense was not included in this year’s budget. Board member Trevor Tucker said the district could potentially search nationally on its own, paying just the advertising costs. Instead, the board decided to search locally in an effort to bring in more options while holding down costs.
The plan was met by opposition by some residents speaking during public comment.
“Where there is healthy competition, you get the best person for the job,” said the Rev. Sims E. Jones, who requested that the board broaden its search. “There are a lot of people nationwide who have lots of potential, lots of ideas.”
Jones said that, in speaking to community members, he feels that the public is unhappy with the direction Flagler schools are going. Board members said they welcomed input from residents at its future public meetings.
“There could be a lot of qualified people out there,” School Board member John Fischer said. “I think Mr. Oliva is very qualified to do this, but the intangible is, we need someone to be cohesive with the district and where it’s going.”
Fischer said he hoped to hear the community’s thoughts on the matter. School Board member Colleen Conklin said the same.
The board will discuss the issue again in November.
