6 things to know as Hillsborough’s school superintendent says goodbye
Note: Updated to announce a special School Board meeting on June 20 at 3 p.m.
Just over a year ago the Pinellas County school system hired a new superintendent. Now it’s Hillsborough County’s turn, just three years after Addison Davis replaced Jeff Eakins.
It’s not unusual these days for the top job in a large school district to turn over frequently. But finding a new leader has substantial implications for children, school employees and the community.
Here are six things to know as the Hillsborough County school district prepares to find its next leader:
What happened
Superintendent Addison Davis, who had an employment contract through June 2027, announced Thursday that he will step down, effective July 14. He said he’s moving back to the Jacksonville area, where he was raised and began his career.
That means Hillsborough County’s seven-member elected school board must find a replacement to lead the seventh-largest district in the nation.
His reasons for leaving
He was not entirely clear in his resignation letter about the reason. He had not experienced the kind of community uprising and acrimony that has befallen superintendents in Sarasota County, Hernando County and districts around the country.
Next steps
The Hillsborough County School Board will convene a special meeting on Tuesday at 3 p.m, right before the scheduled 4 p.m. business meeting, to discuss next steps.
The most typical course of action is to hire a search firm. This can be a private firm or an organization such as the Florida School Boards Association, which assisted in selecting Kevin Hendrick for Pinellas. Such firms work hand-in-hand with the school boards in a process that typically takes months, sometimes as long as a year.
The Hillsborough board will likely name an interim superintendent to keep the system on track during the search. If the board and Davis agree, the district could hire him on a part-time basis for assistance.
Possible candidates for the job
Developments in school districts across Florida offer some possibilities.
Superintendents ousted over politics include some who might still have an interest in running a big Florida school system. Among them: Brennan Asplen of Sarasota County, Tim Smith of Escambia County and Mark Mullins of Brevard County.
Candidates who have been semifinalists or finalists for one or more of the openings include Scott Schneider, chief of schools in Duval County; Ann Hembrook, area superintendent in Marion County; Charles Van Zant, former superintendent of Clay County; Kim Moore, assistant superintendent in Pasco County (formerly a principal and district administrator in Hillsborough); and Ernie Lozano, former chief of staff in Broward County.
The Hillsborough school system also has longtime administrators who could be competitive if they apply.
Van Ayres, chief of strategic planning and partnerships, has had a strong reputation since his successful run as principal of Jefferson High School and worked closely with Davis and his predecessor, Jeff Eakins.
Chris Farkas, chief of operations and a onetime superintendent candidate, distinguished himself before and after the district sought a sales surtax for pressing capital needs, including its ailing air conditioners.
Shaylia McRae, chief of the district’s Transformation Network, moved the needle in the district’s struggling urban schools after decades of poor results.
Michael McAuley, chief of staff, worked closely with Davis in Clay and Hillsborough counties and has assumed multiple high-level responsibilities as others have left.
As a large, high-profile school district, Hillsborough has the potential to draw candidates from across the country, as it did in previous searches. Often, however, Florida school boards favor prospects with experience inside the state.
Where Davis is headed
Davis is leaving without a job, so it’s difficult to know where he will land.
Speculation that he wanted to return to Jacksonville has been rampant since the end of 2022, when he sold his home in Apollo Beach and purchased a new one in the Clay County community of Fleming Island.
In conversations, Davis has not ruled out the possibility that he will fill the superintendent vacancy that exists now in Duval County. But the school board there is also conducting a national search, which could turn up a stronger candidate.
Unfinished business
Davis will leave behind a lot of it.
Hillsborough public schools are at a disadvantage when it comes to teacher pay because they do not benefit from special property taxes that exist in Pinellas, Pasco and elsewhere. When a tax referendum was narrowly defeated in 2022, Davis vowed he would try again in 2024. Nadia Combs, the school board chairperson, said she hopes the board will direct the next superintendent to pursue that objective.
Davis is also days away from seeing possible board approval of a plan to redraw school attendance boundaries across the district. One school, Tampa’s Just Elementary, already closed as part of this plan. Five more schools are expected to close in 2024.
It’s not yet clear what will become of the buildings, and the next superintendent will need to take charge of that endeavor as well.
Times Staff Writer Jeffrey S. Solochek contributed to this report.
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