You boast an impressive 25-year career in public education, with 18 of those years with Duval County Public Schools where you started as a teacher before moving on to Assistant Principal, Principal, Executive Director of Turnaround, Middle School Cluster Chief, Region Superintendent, and Chief of Schools. You were then elected Clay County Superintendent in 2016 and served until March 2020, when you were appointed Hillsborough County Public Schools (HCPS) Superintendent.
Of all the positions you have held in public education, is there one that stands out as the most fulfilling/rewarding and why? Over the last 25 years, the education profession has taught me so such about how to become an authentic and active servant leader.
While teaching is one of the most rewarding roles, being a Principal was my favorite job. As a school-based leader, not only did I get the opportunity to become an instructional leader, talent manager, climate and culture leader, and operational expert, I also got the opportunity to connect with students, families, and community members and assist with building post-graduation plans. Working to change the lives of so many students and families who needed us the most was, and continues to be, the most gratifying role I have played professionally. As a Principal, not only did I get the opportunity to build the capacity of students to become active and successful members of our society, I was also fortunate enough to be able to hire first round draft picks and collaboratively learn how to positively impact student lives. Every position I have held has helped me become a better educator, leader, and champion for kids.
HCPS recently received a $2 million grant from the Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA) Program to create a STEM Innovation Hub specifically for military-connected students (write up in FADSS November Enewsletter). While HCPS has always had strong military partnerships, what do you see as some of the most important of these, and how have they benefited both military-connected students and the student body as a whole?
Specific to the most recent DoDEA grant, the opportunity to expose students to future STEM career options and the behaviors that are necessary to be successful in multiple industries is one of the most exciting elements of the funding. This includes, among other things, the emphasis on project-based and inquiry-based learning, increasing STEM-related industry certifications, and the offering of high-interest STEM-centric clubs at the secondary level. True of all DoDEA grants, the focus is on military-connected students, but the benefits go well beyond this subgroup of a school. Ultimately, all students are allowed to participate in a variety of programming options, allowing us to maximize reach and effect.
Beyond the DoDEA grants, our relationship with MacDill Air Force Base is critical to our success. There are thousands of families that depend on the base for work and resources for both active and civilian personnel, making the local school district incredibly necessary for their comfort. The MacDill Coalition for Educational Excellence has become a model program for military bases everywhere, something that we are proud to be a part of and use to better understand the needs of all families regardless of their military-connected status, giving us the opportunity to continuously improve our work.
You are one of the few superintendents that has had the privilege to serve as both an elected superintendent and an appointed superintendent. Are there any insights or observations that you would like to share with your colleagues?
Let’s just say that I tip my hat to every leader who demonstrates the courage to put themselves in the political arena and run a campaign. Likewise, I have immense respect for individuals that go through a comprehensive interview process as part of an appointed superintendency. I can tell you from experience, neither avenue is easy.
Even though I was elected in Clay County, I treated the School Board members as if I were appointed. As an elected Superintendent, there are numerous benefits…one being the “psychological” stability. Under normal circumstances, you and your leadership team can strategically build a four-year implementation plan that allows for strategic innovation due to the guaranteed four-year elected term. This creates an immediate comfort not only for staff but the entire community as well. So… for those who are elected, I would say value the guaranteed time that you have to build vibrant plans that allow students to discover endless possibilities. On the flip side, transitioning from an elected to an appointed superintendent, I had to learn that the public was no longer the individuals who ultimately evaluated my effectiveness and efficiencies…but it was the Board Members who took the chance on me and created a space for me to lead. With that said, as an elected official, I ran with new initiatives, systems, procedures, and innovative solutions. What I learned quickly as an appointed Superintendent is that all Board Members must be “over” informed and engaged as think partners regarding critical decisions that impact students, finances, community partners, and the community at large. So…the greatest advice I can share is to spend time with every Board Member in order to listen, learn, and identify their “why” along with their areas of focus. Understand that whether you are appointed or elected, they must be allowed to become collaborators in our community and daily problems of practice.
What do you feel is the most challenging barrier at this time in meeting the educational needs of students in your district?
The greatest challenge that I believe that every Superintendent is facing…is the opportunity to win the “talent war”! Education across the nation is suffering due to the social, political, and financial complexities that we are facing on an almost a daily basis. If we rewind and think about the state of education a decade ago, we were flourishing with highly qualified candidates and had very few issues with applicants. Fast forward to the present…and openly, we are starving to find an abundance of individuals who genuinely want to become lifelong educators versus individuals who are looking for employment or those who are clearly interested in just a few short years before moving out of the industry. The mindsets that many candidates bring to us is no longer the mentality that we can accept nor take. We must recruit before, during, and after hours, 365 days a year and 24/7. We must consider “out of the box” ideas when it comes to benefits and contracting. While this sounds alarming…it’s our reality. Strategies that include hosting hiring events at colleges and university graduations, setting-up booths in university student halls, and partnering with the non-college of education pathways to expose potential candidates to the profession. These are just a few ideas along with building an internal pathway for future educators. Winning the talent war is also linked to proper compensation packages that make sense, are competitive, and allow employees to earn a livable wage and raise a family. With this said, we all must continue to push legislators to make our profession more attractive with greater visible benefits.
What is an innovative/impactful initiative in your school district that you are most proud of during your tenure as a superintendent?
Over the last three years in Hillsborough County Public Schools, our team of educational engineers have been surgical in our approach to accelerate teaching and learning. In this timeframe, there have been many successes that include:
- Increased graduation rate from 88.4% to 89.1% (highest ever);
- Improved HCPS academic ranking from 35th in the state of Florida to 19th (highest ever);
- Decreased the number of “historically underperforming “D” and “F” schools” from 28 to 5;
- Decreased the number of overall “D” and “F” Schools from 28 to 14;
- Reduced the number of Persistently Low Performing Schools from 39 to 18;
- Lead HCPS to #1 in Nation in NAEP Scores for 4th Grade Reading andath Performance;
- Increased the number of “A, B, & C” schools from 86% to 93.5%;
- Increased student to device ratio from 6:1 to a 1:1 (20,000 mobile devices to 200,000 in 2.5 years);
- Launched Mental Health Drop In Clinics and increased overall mental wellness supports for students at all levels;
- Established a system of Tier 2 and Tier 3 intervention options in literacy and numeracy designed to complement Tier 1 curriculum to ensure standards based instructional focus;
- Improved High School Acceleration from 54% to 57%
- Increased VPK seats by 210 in the 21-22 school year from 1,110 to 1,320;
- Redesigned our Principal Pipeline to effectively streamline and strengthen the pathway to school-based leadership and have expanded this pathway to include individuals aspiring district leadership roles; and much more!
Outside of being a superintendent, what is something that your colleagues may not know about you that you would like to share.
Ok…you may not know…but I am a “Sneakerhead”. For those who do not know what this means, a sneakerhead is a term used to describe a person who wears/collects sneakers as a hobby. Some of you may remember, that Nike launched their first “Air Jordan” shoe line in 1985. From this point forward specific Nike, Air Jordan, SB Dunks, Air Force Ones, Air Max, and Adidas Yeezy shoes have become extremely popular, hard to obtain, and so valuable. This may sound a little crazy, but there are Air Jordan sneakers that are worth over $30,000. While I do not own shoes within this price range, I love to shop for shoes online or attend sneaker conventions to find shoes that are limited in product and are considered collectables. Overall, this is a really bad addiction that pushes sneakers owners to consistently look for rare finds along with selecting the most fashionable sneakers that will improve their shoe collection. It’s fun for certain and a neat fact. For the record, my favorite sneaker is the Air Jordan 1 OG Chicago. Have fun looking this shoe up on the web.
Individual you admire most for their positive impact on public education.
I have to say, there are two mentors that have genuinely helped me become the educator that I am today. The first one is Nikolai Vitti, current Superintendent of Detroit Public Schools. He is the most inspirational, strategic systems thinker, transformational leader that I have ever been around. No matter the difficulty of the tasks, he is always willing to take on the status quo especially if there are long term educational benefits that positively impact students. From Miami-Dade, leading Differentiated Accountability, transforming Duval County, to accepting to lead Detroit Public Schools when no one desired to take on this position, Nikolai proved his worth through his desire to make bold decisions and challenge comfortability. For his leadership and partnership in our work, I am grateful to have worked with and for him.
The second leader that has helped me become a better educational leader is Alberto Carvalho. There is no need for an introduction to one of the nation’s best educational leaders, but I am so grateful for his mentorship, leadership, and ability to always be accessible to help me navigate through very difficult scenarios.
