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Duval School Board Poised To Pick Superintendent Next Week

Semifinalists( from top left to right) Michael Dunsmore, Diana Greene, Sito Narcisse, Harrison Peters, Erick Pruitt.

The Duval County School Board is set to pick a new superintendent on Friday, May 18. Board members narrowed down a handful of semi-finalists from a list of 26 applicants last month.

Since then, one semi-finalist, Frederick Heid, dropped out leaving five.

Board members will meet with the candidates this week in private, one-on-one meetings.  Then, a focus group made up of people picked by board members will interview the candidates at the Schultz Center at 4019 Boulevard Center Dr.  The interviews are open to the public and will be live streamed.

Board members will get the focus group’s notes and narrow down the candidate list Monday evening during a special board meeting.

Later next week the board will hold morning interviews with the two or three finalists. Those will also be steamed online.

The board is set to pick its new superintendent Friday during a 4 p.m. meeting, a change from the scheduled date to choose the new leader, which was May 22.

Duval has been operating with an interim superintendent, Patricia Willis, since Nikolai Vitti left the position in May to lead Detroit schools in May 2017.

Schedule

  • Saturday May 12 : Focus group interviews at the Schultz Center, 9 a.m.
  • Monday May 14 :  Board members narrow down finalists in public meeting at the Cline Auditorium,  6 p.m.
  • Wednesday May 16: Board members interview a finalist in public meeting at the Cline Auditorium, 9 a.m.
  • Thursday May 17: Board members interview a finalist in public meeting at the Cline Auditorium, 9 a.m.
  • Friday May 18:  Board members interview a finalist (if there is a third) in public meeting at the Cline Auditorium, 9 a.m 
  • Friday May 18: Board members pick new superintendent in public meeting at the Cline Auditorium, 4 p.m.

The Cline Auditorium is inside the Duval County Public Schools Administration Building at 1701 Prudential Dr.

Lindsey Kilbride can be reached at lkilbride@wjct.org, 904-358-6359 or on Twitter at @lindskilbride.

Lindsey Kilbride was WJCT's special projects producer until Aug. 28, 2020. She reported, hosted and produced podcasts like Odd Ball, for which she was honored with a statewide award from the Associated Press, as well as What It's Like. She also produced VOIDCAST, hosted by Void magazine's Matt Shaw, and the ADAPT podcast, hosted by WJCT's Brendan Rivers.