Duval County Superintendent Nikolai Vitti is now one of two finalists for Detroit Public Schools Community District superintendent after the third candidate, Orlando Ramos of Milwaukee Public Schools, dropped out Thursday night, according to Detroit NPR member station WDET.
It’s now between Vitti and Superintendent Derrick Coleman of the River Rouge Community Schools district, located 20 minutes outside of Detroit.
The news Vitti was a finalist for the job broke Saturday. Vitti grew up in Detroit, and he said in an emailed statement, “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 was hired in Duval in 2012
According WDET education reporter Sascha Raiyn, Vitti will have an all-day interview with the Detroit school board and community members Wednesday.
The Detroit Public Schools Community District was just created by the state’s legislature last year. It took all of the students and staff and buildings from the Detroit Public School District. Raiyn said the district was created to separate the school district from the debt the district had collected.
WJCT reporter Cyd Hoskinson talked with WDET public radio education reporter Raiyn about the troubled school district and the issues Vitti may confront.
Listen here:
Reporter Lindsey Kilbride can be reached at lkilbride@wjct.org, 904-358-6359 or on Twitter at @lindskilbride
Reporter Cyd Hoskinson can be reached at choskinson@wjct.org, 904-358-6351 or on Twitter @cydwjctnews.
