- April 28, 2024
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Hours before the close of the application period for the school district’s superintendent search, a total of 17 people had submitted applications.
Of those, few applicants' credentials appear to challenge those of Assistant Superintendent Jacob Oliva, who members of the School Board have publicly supported for the position. Oliva has taken on most of the responsibilities of the superintendent’s role after Superintendent Janet Valentine was incapacitated by a stroke in November.
He had not submitted an application by Friday afternoon, though he was expected to do so before the application window closed at 11:59 p.m.
Many of the individuals who had applied by the end of business Friday don’t meet the district’s basic requirements, and some have very limited educational experience.
The basic position qualifications listed in the district’s ad for the position include a master’s degree in school administration or educational leadership and at least 10 years of experience in public education, including teaching, school administration and district-level executive experience in a district that is recognized as high-performing and has 12,000 or more students.
Applicants are also expected to have a “working knowledge” of federal education funding, the Florida public school finance system or a comparable finance system, and the Florida accountability system.
Of just four applicants from Florida — Broward College business affairs dean George Stalliard, San Jose Catholic School Assistant Principal Michelle Burgess, Kaiser College instructor Anita Jennings and Flagler Palm Coast High School assistant basketball coach Carl Jones — only one, Burgess, has the school administration master’s degree the district requires.
Jennings and Jones are both Palm Coast residents, but Jones listed no education experience in his application, and the only experience Jennings listed is as an instructor.
Many of the out-of-state applicants also do not have the required master’s degree in educational leadership, and many don’t list educational leadership experience beyond the individual school level.
Two applicants are current superintendents in other school districts: James Parla, of Hamilton Township School District, with 13,000 students; and Nolan Correa, of Fort Sumner Public Schools, with 300 students.
One, John Green, is a former superintendent, of the Jacksonville County Board of Education.
The application period for the position opened Dec. 18 and closed Jan. 17 at 11:59 p.m., and the district will choose a candidate by Feb. 4.
A committee of 15 community members is helping narrow down the list of candidates and will meet Tuesday to review applications. They will submit a list of three candidates to the School Board Wednesday.
The individual applicants are as follows:
Heather Beck, cheif academic officer at Jefferson County Public Schools (85,000 students)
Eve Breier, campus college chair at the University of Phoenix
Michelle Burgess, assistant principal at San Jose Catholic School (St. Augustine)
Jean Campbell, retired administrator of Cranston Public Schools
Nolan Correa, superintendent of Fort Sumner Public Schools (300 students)
Migdalia Garcia, executive director of Savannah-Chatham County Public Schools
John Green, former superintendent of Jacksonville County Schools (7,300 students)
Anita Jennings, instructor at Kaiser University
Carl Jones, assistant basketball coach at Flagler Palm Coast High School and retired Air Force officer
Ronald Mackin, self-employed school leadership consultant
Mary Murray, mentor and instructor at Western Governors University's Teachers College
Danny Osborne, education recovery leader for the Kentucky Department of Education, working with low-achieving schools
James Parla, current superintendent of Hamilton Township School District (13,000 students) and former superintendent of three other districts
Christopher Quinn, assistant superintendent for instruction at Stafford County Public Schools
Hubert Sanford, southwest regional director of Mountain Education Charter High School
George Stalliard, dean of business affairs at Broward College north campus
Andrea Townsend, director of Springfield City School District
