School Board announces 2 finalists for Duval County superintendent

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Duval County School Board voted 7-0 to approve two finalists for the Duval County Public Schools superintendent on Tuesday.

The semifinalists -- Dr. Christopher Bernier, Adam Taylor, Dr. Daniel Smith, Dr. Joe Phillips, and Dr. Cheryl Proctor -- had answered questions from the board, some with written answers, others with video responses.

After considering those responses and the candidates’ qualifications, the Board announced Bernier and Smith as finalists in the superintendent search.

Board members Warren Jones and Darryl Willie included Proctor as a candidate they’d also like to see as a finalist.

“If one drops out, then we’re stuck with whether we want to or not, we’re left with one candidate. That was my reasoning for adding three,” Jones said.

“I think she offers a very different lens and experience to look through, and I think she could offer a valuable sort of interview,” Willie said.

But in the end, the board opted to go with just Bernier and Smith in a unanimous vote.

Bernier was the superintendent of Lee County Schools, in the Ft. Myers area, from 2022 until resigning recently as he applied for other jobs. That district has about 100,000 students.

Smith is Chief of Staff at Loudoun County Public Schools in Virginia, which has a student population of more than 80,000.

Andrea Messina, who is helping the board with the search through the Florida School Boards Association, said Bernier has withdrawn as an applicant in another district to focus on Duval and she’s not aware of Smith being a finalist elsewhere.

Those finalists will be interviewed on May 13 and 14, including a meet and greet event with the community from 6-8 p.m. Monday at EverBank Stadium.

“I think we’re looking for someone who can really take on this challenge and opportunity. I keep saying, there’s a number of challenges that we have, but every challenge comes with a great opportunity,” Willie said after the meeting.

After the meetings, the district plans to select a superintendent at a special board meeting on May 23, and 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.

The Board narrowed the original 20 applicants down to the five semifinalists who applied to replace Dr. Diana Green, who left the role about a year ago.

The district suspended its last search for candidates after about half of the applicants did not meet the minimum qualifications the board wanted to see fulfill the position.

MORE: Duval County School Board set to approve first 5 years of controversial consolidation plan later this year

The district’s minimum qualifications for the job include leadership at the district/cabinet level in a district approaching 25,000 students or more, or current or past experience as a school superintendent.

The semifinalists had until May 1 to submit their responses to various questions addressing issues the district faces such as budgeting, student enrollment and school closures and integrating artificial intelligence into the school system.

The responses were submitted to the Florida School Boards Association, which is assisting the district with the search.

RELATED: How Duval superintendent candidates say they will work to eliminate ‘D’ and ‘F’ schools, address declining enrollment

Here are the written questions they had to answer:

1. Please provide 3 strategies in which you will work with the School Board and School Police Chief to combat increasing acts of misconduct by students and teachers in our schools and school events. This includes gun violence, fights, and inappropriate contact with students and/or teachers.
2. The Duval County Public Schools’ annual budget exceeds two billion dollars. Please describe the work experiences you have had that show your ability to manage a budget of this size. Additionally, please describe your approach to budget forecasts, i.e., factors to be considered, appropriate timelines, etc.
3. Given significant declines in student enrollment in recent years and escalating construction costs, our district is facing school closures to address district budget shortfalls and will also need to revise the “15 Year Facility Plan” funded by our half penny referendum. If selected as our new superintendent, what steps would you take to bring our current district budget into alignment and prioritize projects within the 15-year facility plan? Additionally, how would you incorporate community feedback into your decision-making process?

Here are the video response questions:

1. How will you approach the integration of innovative schooling models and emerging technologies like OpenAI and ChatGPT to enhance in Duval, and what strategies do you envision to adapt to the changing educational landscape while ensuring equitable access for all students?
2. Describe a time you recognized a systematic problem within an organization. What was it and how did you create scalable systems and reorganize the department to improve the flawed process?
3. What is your detailed plan to eliminate all D and F graded schools?
4. Florida is wide open for school choice. What are you going to do to lead DCPS to compete for students?

The district has posted each candidate’s response to the website. Click here to read and watch what they said.