JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A restarted search process has now led to 20 applications from people interested in being the next superintendent of Duval County Public Schools after the board said an initial round last fall didn’t produce enough qualified applicants.
The school board has been trying to replace Dr. Diana Greene, who left the role nearly a year ago. When the board initially advertised the job last year, it only received 10 applications, and about half of those met the minimum qualifications the board wanted to see. That led to the district suspending the search process, and extending the contract of interim superintendent Dr. Dana Kriznar through June.
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The district then reposted the job, with the application window closing Monday at midnight. On Tuesday morning, the names of six applicants were shown on the district’s webpage devoted to the process, but 15 others were added later that day. One of those fifteen applicants has since withdrawn his application.
Three people who initially applied in the fall have applied again: Dr. Corwin Robinson, Adam Taylor, and Dr. Cheryl Proctor. Another applicant, Dr. Sito Narcisse, applied during the district’s last superintendent search in 2018, and was named a semi-finalist, but did not advance beyond that point in the process.
Of the 20 candidates still being considered, nearly all have some sort of education background. One applicant however, Andrew Stenwall of Ponte Vedra Beach, has a background in investments. In his cover letter, he acknowledges he is “not your typical candidate,” but says he offers a “clear vision of how to improve the performance of complex organizations.”
The district’s minimum qualifications for the job include 10 years of increasingly responsible administrative leadership experience, and leadership at the district/cabinet level in a district approaching 25,000 students or more, or current or past experience as a school superintendent. Most of the candidates do have some sort of district-level leadership experience, though not all of those candidates had that job in a district of the size DCPS is looking for.
The school board is scheduled to identify semi-finalists and questions for the semi-finalists at its upcoming April 23 board meeting. Semi-finalists will have to submit responses to those questions by May 1 to the Florida School Boards Association, which is assisting the district with the search.
Finalists will then be chosen at a May 7 board meeting, and be interviewed on May 13 and 14. The district plans to then select a superintendent at a special board meeting on May 23, then begin contract negotiations with the chosen candidate. The contract is slated to be approved at a June 4 meeting, with a projected start date for the new superintendent of July 1.
Below are the candidates still under consideration, listed in the order they appear on the DCPS superintendent search page. Click their name to view their complete application packet. (Note: personal addresses, emails, and phone numbers have been redacted.)