JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Duval County Superintendent Dr. Nikolai Vitti held his "Chat with the Supe" event Tuesday night at Mandarin Middle School.
Before the event could begin, though, school board member Lori Hershey told parents that Vitti would not be commenting or talking about his job offer to be the superintendent of the Detroit Public Schools Community District.
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Hershey also mentioned to parents that the board has not yet discussed the possibility of an interim superintendent in Duval County, should Vitti accept the job in his hometown.
A small group of parents had other questions for VItti.
Most parents were concerned about their children's teachers and how important it was to keep good teachers in Duval County.
Parents voiced the importance of keeping the teachers they have from being overworked and how to attract new teachers to the district.
Vitti explained to News4Jax a big concern for parents is improving the culture, climate and safety at all schools, including Mandarin Middle School.
"As the school has been challenged with this increase in enrollment, and population and a difference in population, I think we need to do a better job as a district to support it," Vitti said. "We've done that, but the conversation today reaffirms that we're going to have to think differently about resources as we go into next year at Mandarin Middle."
Vitti said as a district, he thinks they're doing a better job asking teachers what's working, what's not working and what can be done differently.
"We see that with the improvement of our culture survey," Vitti said. "The index that we do twice a year, and we're training our principals in a much better way and recognizing that they set the tone and expectations for the retainment and recruitment of teachers."