Interim superintendent wanted

File photo: Dr. Diane Gullett, Superintendent of Marion County Public Schools [Bruce Ackerman/Ocala Gazette] 2023.

The Marion County School District has opened applications for an interim superintendent position; a temporary solution to fill the current Superintendent Diane Gullet’s place once her term ends on July 11.

Human Resources Administration Executive Director Wantanisha Morant shared a hiring timeline yesterday with the school board during a Marion County Public Schools work session.

After much deliberation from board members over fine details and date specificities, a consensus was reached that the application will open on April 4 and close on April 10 at noon.

The application is a Google Doc that requires the candidate’s name, current position and employer, contact information for three references, and an uploaded copy of their resume.

The document is open for internal MCPS personnel and external candidates to apply. Morant said she is emailing the application directly to staff to make them aware and is posting it on the district’s main home page.

The board expressed interest in conducting phone interviews with applicants and said that the internal candidates would interview on the clock so that their current position with the district is not jeopardized.

Chief Financial Officer Theresa Boston-Ellis said the approximate salary range of the interim position is $125,987 to $169,333. Boston-Ellis said this is the estimated amount if the interim superintendent serves one full year, but it will decrease if a permanent superintendent is found sooner.

Morant said that salary can be negotiated based on the experience and education of the selected candidate.

The position will also have the screening requirement that candidates meet the superintendent job description listed by the district.

Morant said she would then compile a spreadsheet of the applicants that met the job requirements and upload it under the agenda for the April 17 work session for the public to review. The same form will be sent directly to board members via email for thorough consideration before they select a candidate to hire during the session.

The board agreed to schedule another meeting on April 29 at 5:30 p.m. to review an interim superintendent contract, which has yet to be written.

Morant created this timeline in anticipation of the interim superintendent being trained and ready to start on May 5.

Board concerns

School Board member Allison Campbell was concerned with the position’s start date being in May for time and cost purposes.

She said she believed June would be better for the interim superintendent to start, as May consists of graduation ceremonies Superintendent Gullett will speak at, which the May date could create overlapping conflicts as they work beside one another.

“I just continue to feel this is so rushed and I know the concern in the district that we need to get somebody named, but getting somebody named in essentially two weeks from now is a very, very fast timeline,” Campbell said.

Another concern was mentioned when School Board member Sarah James said that Gullett is not interested in hiring a deputy superintendent, but wants the interim superintendent to fulfill that task once hired.

Campbell said the district could not afford the deputy position with Gullett still finishing her term, a new interim position, and a search firm that will be hired soon to find a permanent superintendent replacement.

“We have some hard decisions to make, board,” she said. “I mean the funding is dried up.”

Boston-Ellis said the board could pull from the one-time fund balance for the deputy position if that is what the district needs.

James said she felt like the discussion was becoming overcomplicated.

She said, “I feel confident that (Gullett) is going to hold hands with the next person, and they are going to solve problems, and she is going to be very strategic and use her brain to give us all the insight we need, and we can continue to move forward.”