Duval County Public Schools Superintendent Nikolai Vitti is a finalist for Detroit Public Schools Community District's superintendent position.
Vitti confirmed it in an email Saturday, saying he was recently recruited by a search firm to consider returning to his hometown of Detroit as its superintendent.
“Right now there are few, if any, challenges on a national level to traditional public education more than in Detroit,” Vitti wrote. “It was too difficult to walk away from this challenge and opportunity. Detroit is and will always be in my DNA. I feel a sense of responsibility to explore the opportunity to determine if there is a match between the newly elected school board and me.”
Vitti said over the years he’s been recruited to consider opportunities in other school districts, charter networks and the private sector.
“I have not considered those opportunities for over four years,” he said in his statement.
He also said his consideration for the job won’t affect his work in Duval.
“My attention to my current responsibilities as superintendent will not be ignored as I explore this opportunity," he said.
Vitti said it’s been an honor working in a district and on a team that’s been recognized statewide and nationally "for our work with the shift in standards and curriculum selection, innovative school programming, leadership development, community engagement through a strong communication and marketing plan, expansion of the arts, narrowing the achievement gap, supporting overage students, and improving low performing schools."
As the Detroit Free Press reported Friday, Vitti was one of three finalists selected by the Detroit Board of Education during a meeting Thursday.
Reporter Lindsey Kilbride can be reached at lkilbride@wjct.org, 904-358-6359 or on Twitter at@lindskilbride.
