JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Duval County’s former superintendent of schools on Thursday spoke about her short-lived retirement and her departure from the school district this summer.
Dr. Diana Greene seems relieved and excited about her new role and is set to speak at the TEDxJacksonville event on Oct. 14.
It’s clear that serving as superintendent for Duval County Public Schools was a stressful and successful time for her. Greene served DCPS for five years.
MORE: A look back at Dr. Diana Greene’s tenure as DCPS superintendent
“I’m very proud of the legacy of change that, and I can’t say me, that my team and I worked to bring to Duval County,” Greene said.
Greene pointed to two referendums, the district’s highest graduation rate and the fact that all schools were removed from the state’s turnaround list.
Even so, she agrees that she left some unfinished business when she retired last summer.
She said there’s still “so much more work to do.”
”Literacy is huge,” she said. “And we have, we’re still not there. Too many of our students of color are not proficient by the end of third grade. When you only have 44% that are proficient, you look at the data and it is very clear. Our students of poverty, students of color, they are still struggling with literacy and COVID did not do us any favors.”
Also unfavorable was the intense scrutiny at one of Jacksonville’s schools last spring.
Greene announced her decision to retire as head of Duval schools back in May and her last day on the job was June 2. Greene stepped down early following a series of investigations within the district amid claims of abuse and a toxic work and learning environment at Douglas Anderson School of the Arts. Greene had signed a four-year extension just one year before.
Supporters believe the school board forced Greene from her role, something Greene has never acknowledged.
“So as I’ve shared with other people, it was my choice. Sometimes you have to make choices during difficult times and a difficult space but I made the choice to retire and move forward with my career in a different direction. The circumstances right now are not important because I chose to retire,” Greene said.
The district is still searching for her replacement and is currently reviewing applications.
Greene chose to retire from DCPS but she has now taken on the role as Chief Executive for Children’s Literacy Initiative.
“We really focus around the science of reading that that research and the research about culturally sustaining pedagogy, and we combine it and deliver that type of instruction in the classroom so that those students benefit and the key. The key thing here for people to understand is when those students benefit, all students benefit,” Greene said.
Dr. Greene is one of the guests on This Week in Jacksonville.
The show appears at 9 a.m. on Sunday both on-air and streaming on News4JAX+.