- May 4, 2024
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Five candidates of the 20 who applied for the position of Flagler County School District superintendent have made a short list selected by a 15-member community committee.
They are: current Flagler County School District Assistant Superintendent Jacob Oliva, Western Governors University's Teachers College mentor and instructor Mary Murray, Hamilton Township School District Superintendent James Parla, Stafford County Public Schools Assistant Superintendent for Instruction Christopher Quinn and Osceola County School District Assistant Superintendent Pamela Tapley.
Those names have been submitted to School Board members for further review, said School District Attorney Kristy Gavin, though the board is free to look at candidates who did not make the final short list.
Two more candidates, St. Lucie Public Schools Assistant Superintendent Kevin Perry and Savannah-Chatham County Public Schools Executive Director Migdalia Garcia, made a short list of seven but were cut when the list was whittled to five, Gavin said.
Of the 20 people who submitted applications before the window closed just before midnight Friday, few had the required credentials to challenge Assistant Superintendent Oliva, who School Board members have publicly supported for the position and whose application includes a glowing endorsement from current Superintendent Janet Valentine.
Valentine was incapacitated with a stroke in November, and Oliva has since taken on most of her professional responsibilities.
Many of the individuals who applied 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.
There were seven Florida applicants: Oliva, Broward College business affairs dean George Stalliard, San Jose Catholic School Assistant Principal Michelle Burgess, Kaiser College instructor Anita Jennings, Flagler Palm Coast High School assistant basketball coach Carl Jones, St. Lucie Public Schools assistant superintendent Kevin Perry and Osceola County School District Assistant Superintendent Pamela Tapley.
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.
Here is a list of all of the individual applicants, with a link to each application:
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
Jacob Oliva, assistant superintendent of Flagler County School District, currently filling in for Superintendent Janet Valentine, who has not worked since a stroke in November
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
Kevin Perry, assistant superintendent of St. Lucie Public Schools
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
Pamela Tapley, assistant superintendent of high schools, Osceola County School Disctrict
Andrea Townsend, director of Springfield City School District
