Brevard school board places interim superintendent Robert Schiller on administrative leave
During a tension-filled meeting and citing concerns about his relationship with the district, the Brevard County School Board voted unanimously Tuesday to place Interim Superintendent Robert Schiller on administrative leave.
The move, which came just before 11 p.m. at the end of the five-hours-plus meeting, was prompted in part by what Board Chair Matt Susin described as numerous records requests Schiller had sent to the district during the process of negotiating his amended employment contract. Other factors included a 12-page email sent by Schiller to Susin and BPS attorney Paul Gibbs in February.
The records requests, Susin said, asked for minutes for work sessions and meetings since December, Schiller's proposed employee contract amendment and minutes for meetings during which his contract was discussed and communications between Susin and Gibbs, according to Susin.
“What that did is it freaked me out,” Susin said.
Board member Gene Trent agreed that the requests seemed suspicious.
"If I were preparing to go on the offense, I would probably put something together like this myself," he said. "Not saying that's what is happening, but if I were going to do that, I would ask for minutes and conversations regarding a contract ... it seems like that is what was being set up."
Schiller’s removal came a little over four months after the same board removed former Superintendent Mark Mulllins in November 2022. During their first meeting as board on Nov. 22, Susin, Trent and board member Megan Wright discussed removing him from his position, with Katy Campbell and Jennifer Jenkins opposing the move. Mullins offered to resign before it could be brought to a vote.
Issues challenging the school district haven't eased since.
At Tuesday's meeting, nine BPS principals, assistant principals and other staff members gave their notice of resignation, retirement or requested a transfer or reclassification of their position.
About two hours of the meeting were spent on public comment, the vast majority of which addressed the district's new process for reviewing challenged books, which prevents media specialists from participating in the review. Other topics of concern included graduation rates and school ratings, addressed by Neyda Francis, director of elementary leading and learning and accountability, testing and evaluation
The challenges further come in the midst of the district's search for a new superintendent, with applications for the position set to close Friday. As of Wednesday morning, 12 applicants were listed on BPS' website. The district's spokesperson, Russell Bruhn, said he did not think Schiller's suspension would affect that process, with board members set to identify semi-finalists for the position on April 4.
It was during the process of amending Schiller's contract, which began in February, that Schiller sent a 12-page email requesting a higher salary and blasting the board on multiple topics, including their “immaturity” and the fast-tracked search process for a permanent superintendent. Schiller had provided the board with his written 45-day notice Tuesday afternoon, which would set his final day for May 31 as agreed upon in his original contract.
"The immaturity of the Board despite being in office for 3 months is astounding. They don’t know or do not want to learn what they don’t know," Schiller wrote.
The meeting went on for about four and a half hours before the board landed on the amendment to Schiller's employee contract, the final agenda item for the night. The discussion rapidly shifted to an argument between Susin and Schiller, with Schiller criticizing the board for placing the item on the agenda Monday, a move he said didn't give him sufficient time to speak to his attorney.
The discussion went on for an hour before Board Chair Matt Susin made the motion to put Schiller on leave at 10:51 p.m., with board member Megan Wright seconding it and the unanimous vote.
Moments later, the board chose Susan Hann, assistant superintendent of facilities, as acting superintendent. Susin made the motion, with board member Katye Campbell seconding it. That motion, too, passed unanimously.
Hann has worked for the district since 2015, according to her LinkedIn profile. She initially worked as director of planning and project management before moving to her current position. Prior to working for the district, she served as city manager of Palm Bay.
During an initial back-and-forth discussion that lasted a little less than 15 minutes, Susin explained why he had chosen to place the item on the agenda, explaining some of the content of Schiller's email, which was detailed in a FLORIDA TODAY story published Tuesday afternoon. That email was initially included on the agenda Monday, though it was removed later that day.
Throughout the debate, Susin repeatedly interrupted Schiller, talked amongst board members and to board attorney Paul Gibbs and walked off stage at one point while Schiller was speaking.
There was additional confusion during the meeting about the document, with Schiller saying he hadn't received it and Susin saying it was Schiller's document he and other board members were repeatedly referring to.
Schiller called the discussion a "horrendous type of demonstration of HR personnel matters."
"I only offered, since the day we first talked, to allow consistency to close out the school year, to complete myriad matters that need to be taken care of by June 30 and not cause a second rupture in the school district within five months," Schiller said.
Megan Wright spoke in favor of suspending Schiller, saying she didn't think their relationship could recover because of the email.
"I don't know how we say, 'Hey, Dr. Schiller, it's awesome that you put an email out there for the world to see where you bashed us and you bashed (The Florida School Boards Association), and you made comments that were just not favorable toward people that you're working with,'" Wright said. "I don't know how you recover from that, and so my concern is, what does this look like if we don't handle this tonight?"
Schiller's response: Schiller slams Brevard School Board, adding to turmoil amid superintendent search
Jennifer Jenkins said the email highlighted concerns she initially brought up to the board in early January, including worries regarding staff, contracting services and financial decisions.
"(The email) literally rings bells for exactly what I was concerned about back on Jan. 9," she said. "I'm concerned about the liability for the district."
Katye Cambell tried several times to push the discussion to Thursday's work session, saying the board was not going to negotiate Schiller's contract and the meeting was already running late.
Schiller, who requested an increased salary and benefits in the document, said he was not in his position for the money.
"I'm not doing this for the money, Lord knows," he said. "I'm not doing it for my health. I've been trying to do this for the best interest of BPS."
Finch Walker is the education reporter at FLORIDA TODAY. Contact Walker at 321-290-4744 or fwalker@floridatoday.com. Twitter: @_finchwalker.
This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Brevard County School Board puts interim superintendent on leave
