Duval County Public Schools superintendent search could cost up to $75,000, nonprofit CEO says
School board members are scheduled to meet Tuesday afternoon to discuss the next step in the superintendent search. The lengthy process comes with a price tag.
First Coast News | By Renata Di Gregorio | June 20, 2023
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The search continues Tuesday for Duval County Public Schools’ next superintendent. Who will lead more than 140,000 students and employees at DCPS?
School board members are scheduled to meet Tuesday afternoon to discuss the next step in the superintendent search. The lengthy process comes with a price tag.
It could cost $30,000 to $75,000 to find and hire a new schools superintendent, according to the Florida School Board Association’s CEO. A district spokesperson says it will be paid for with the district’s general fund, not with money from the one mil tax and 2020 half-cent sales tax.
Andrea Messina is the CEO of the Florida School Boards Association and advises school boards on issues like finding new superintendents, which she did at a Duval County School Board meeting last week and has been doing much more often for Florida districts in recent years.
Florida is dealing with a high turnover of school superintendents. Messina says statewide, they’ve been seeing fewer applicants, especially from out of state. She says there is uncertainty about the stability of the job.
Messina says only five of Florida’s 29 board-appointed superintendents are the same as they were three years ago. Just since last month, at least six counties have named new superintendents. This month Former Clay County Superintendent Addison Davis resigned as the Hillsborough County Schools superintendent.
Messina says the Duval County School Board has already completed the first step in the process of replacing a superintendent by promoting former Deputy Superintendent Dr. Dana Kriznar to interim superintendent. The next step may be discussed at Tuesday’s meeting, which Messina recommends should be hiring an outside firm to help with the search.
Former Duval County Schools Superintendent Dr. Diana Greene’s salary was $300,000. Messina says the average in Florida is lower and the average student population is also lower than Duval County’s.
A district spokesperson says there is not a deadline for when a new superintendent must be hired. The interim superintendent’s contract is for six months.
The board meeting is scheduled for 12:30 p.m. at the district’s administration building on Prudential Drive in Jacksonville.
