School superintendent resumes trickling in
The Lee County School District has received 10 resumes for the superintendent position in the past three weeks, with only one candidate from Florida.
Personal Service Director Georgianna McDaniel said board members and the Superintendent Search Committee have received three weeks worth of resumes and materials since they went “live” on Feb. 23 with their first job posting on Education Week, a national paper magazine.
Board and search committee members receive a copy of all of the applications received during that week every Friday by noon.
The in-state candidate is Bernard Osborn from Davie. He has been the principal of David Lawrence Jr. K-8 Center in North Miami since 2005. He has also been an assistant principal and elementary educator in Miami since 1985.
The other candidates include:
- Wayne Alexander is currently the principal and director of Hartford Public Schools in Hartford, CT. His work experience includes superintendent, director of human resources and school operations, principal, assistant principal, educational consultant and special education teacher.
- Timothy Dawson is currently the principal of Baltimore City Public School System. His experience includes assistant principal, dean, teacher, court liaison and a community youth health rehabilitative services leader.
- Dr. Jamie Imlay currently works for the state of Ohio Department of Education, with experience as an academic advisor, college of health and human services, EBD theory graduate assistant, advanced behavior management graduate assistant, autism graduate assistant and teacher.
- Donald Jolly is currently the principal for John Adams High School in Cleveland, Ohio. His experience includes campus administrator and assistant deputy principal.
- Dr. Leon Hobbs is currently the president and chief executive officer in Flowery Branch, GA. His experience includes associate superintendent, deputy superintendent, superintendent, principal, teacher, vocational education director, assistant principal and real estate sales person.
- Peter Mercado was the director of school safety and emergency response in Conway, SC from 2007-2009. His experience includes assistant principal, dean and English teacher.
- Joe Farmer was the deputy superintendent of schools in Spring Valley, NY from 2006-2010. His experience includes interim superintendent, interim principal, Democratic mayoral candidate, special assistant to the mayor for housing and redevelopment, assistant superintendent for administration and instruction, city council member, executive director and principal.
- Jennifer Hart is currently the assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction in Manorville, NY. Her experience includes district administrator for curriculum, assistant director of pupil personnel services, principal, assistant principal and teacher.
- John Wheatley is currently the superintendent in Opdyke, IL. His experience includes department chair of guidance and special education and principal.
The deadline for resumes is April 1.
McDaniel said the next time the citizen committee will convene is April 6 to go over background reference training.
On April 14, they will meet with Florida School Boards Association Executive Director Dr. Wayne Blanton to facilitate the selection of the top five finalists to be given to the board on April 15.
McDaniel said on April 15 the five individuals chosen should receive a phone call, along with a packet that she will send highlighting the details of the events that will take place in May.
Board Chairman Thomas Scott provided a timeline during Tuesday afternoon’s board meeting regarding the superintendent search interview process.
On May 11 at 6 p.m. the district will hold a welcoming dinner for board members, candidates and their spouses. The following day beginning at 8 a.m. candidates will meet the superintendent’s cabinet.
“Each board member gets 40 minutes with candidates to ask questions and create relationships,” Scott said.
A lunch and an educational tour of the district will follow the interviews that Thursday. Later that night from 6:30 p.m. -8 p.m. a community reception will be held.
Scott invited all members of the superintendent committee, along with the general public to attend the reception.
The second round of interviews on May 13 will include the Superintendent Search Committee, which consists of 20 community members, 10 district employees and five students. Each candidate also will be put through an experienced based interview, writing prompt and a presentation prompt.
Scott explained that during the last superintendent search the recordings of the findings of the citizen group were not available to board members to review right away, which they hope to change this year.
McDaniel said they will have the detailed information from the citizen group available to all board members through a link they can access to review the presentations that were made.
“The information could be gathered at the end of the day on Saturday and delivered to us Saturday night or Monday morning for us to digest,” Scott said.
The process will conclude with a workshop by the board members to determine the top candidates on May 17 at 9 a.m.
The school board has tentatively set June 1 as the hire date for a new superintendent and July 1 as the date he/she should start to be a part of the upcoming budget process for next year.