School Board Begins to Wrestle with Greene's Impending Departure

BRADENTON – Following last Friday's announcement that Manatee School District Superintendent Diana Greene would depart for a job in Duval County at the end of June, the Manatee School Board began the chaotic process of moving forward at Tuesday's meeting.

The board voted 4-1 to allow Greene to seek and accept other employment. Dave Miner cast the dissenting vote, having pointed out at a school board workshop held earlier in the day that Greene's contract did not include an opt out clause.

The contract reads: "It is the intent of the parties, and a condition of this Agreement, that the Superintendent's employment by the Board shall be exclusive and that the Superintendent shall accept no other employment during the term of this Agreement, except as herein otherwise permitted in advance by the Board."

School board attorney James Dye said that because an opt out clause had been in other previous superintendent contracts and that the other elements of her initial one-year contract that were not included in Greene's current four-year contract had been crossed out to highlight changes, while this one had disappeared and had not been discussed, indicated that it was most likely a mistake. Dye said he didn't think the district would be able to prove in court that it meant to remove the clause.

Miner said that he thought the opt out clause had been forsaken in exchange for the four-year extension and argued that the district had much invested in Greene and should seek public input before voting on her departure. He suggested Greene staying there until December 1 and using an accelerated process to hire a replacement, but other board members demurred, saying they definitely understood Greene to be able to opt out of her current position and felt that the next board–which could change significantly following this year's elections–should control the replacement process.

Board members will, however, have to decide on an interim superintendent to lead the district during that time, which typically takes between 9-12 months.

Susan Agruso, the widely-respected chair of the board's audit committee, who was a superintendent in Long Island for six years before retiring to Manatee, seemed to be the most obvious choice. Doug Wagner, Director of Adult, Career and Technical Education, who has a long history in the district and has done a commendable job in building up Manatee Technical College is another obvious possibility who was mentioned Tuesday.

Cynthia Saunders, one of Greene's deputy superintendents who followed her from Marion County, was also mentioned, as were former Sarasota superintendent Lori White, Manatee Director of Secondary Schools Willie Clark and Bill Vogel, who previously led Seminole County schools and served briefly as Manatee's interim superintendent in early 2013.