The League of Women Voters of Manatee County Education Issues Committee observes the Manatee County School Board meetings for items of interest to citizens and the League and notes adherence, or lack of adherence, to good governance procedures and the sunshine laws. The following are the major points from the school board meeting on 5/29/25.
The meeting was called to order by Chair Choate at 9:02 AM. He led the Pledge of Allegiance.
Public Comments
There were no public commenters.
New Business:
Approval of the Appointments, Change of Assignments, Promotions, Reappointments, Reassignments, Resignations, Retirements, Suspensions, Terminations, and Transfers (No Financial Support)
After Chair Choate noted Mrs. Vanzetta Thomas’ retirement after 36 years at Stewart Elementary and Don French’s retirement as Assistant Principal at Bayshore High School after more than 40 years of employment, Board Members approved the HR report 5-0.
Acting Superintendent Supplemental Contract
Mr. Dye indicated that they had received a draft prior to the one in the board materials. The draft for today had blanks that were filled in as follows and approved 5-0.
The term of employment for Mr. Chapman as Interim Superintendent will be effective May 20, 2025, until January 6, 2026, or until the Board installs another person to serve as either Interim Superintendent or a new Superintendent starts. The rationale for the late date, even though they expected selection of a new Superintendent to meet an expedited timeline, was that if the selected candidate is delayed in starting, this date should cover it. Ms. Spray floated the idea of continuing to pay Mr. Chapman as an Associate Superintendent during a specified transition time with the new Superintendent. She was reminded that the contract specifies Mr. Chapman will return to his current assignment, which is as a direct report to the Superintendent, so Mr. Chapman would be available during the transition. Mr. Dye indicated the new Superintendent, not this Board, would be the one to change his status.
Mr. Chapman's salary will be $19,500 per month. Vehicle allowance will be $600 per month. Rather than providing Mr. Chapman a cellular phone and other necessary devices, he will be reimbursed up to $175 per month for his personal cell phone use.
The contract can be found here.
Discussion / Update – Non-Voting – Superintendent Search – added after publishing
After extended discussion, the following decisions were made by verbal agreement.
Proposed Timeline:
The discussion included noting the summer calendar and the fact that the district will be on a four-day work week during the summer.
Hiring Search Consultants.
Mr. Choate reported the results of looking into four options.
The discussion points included that as applications come in, they will be posted on the district website for Board Members and the public to analyze. Mr. Kennedy asked when the public will have time to weigh in. The public will have an option of making comments on the website. Mr. Choate explained last time public had public comment in meetings. He indicated they could add a workshop before the 22nd.
Ms. Spray would recommend the final three, not five. She said she is not an HYA fan with that price tag. She said she likes the idea of going with Dr. Vogel since he was very involved with the last search, is very familiar with the process, and has a lot of knowledge. She does not want the process to be cumbersome. Mr. Choate indicated that Zeal’s proposal included working with the Superintendent and Board after the selection for transition support, and could probably do à la carte some of that stuff if they wanted to. He said he was not a fan of HYA’s price tag.
Mr. Choate said they can reuse some of what they had from FSBA the last time because they are members of FSBA and it isn’t proprietary, so he doesn’t think they need a consultant to start, but would come into play later on for the vetting process. He agrees about HYA and is open to Zeal. He doesn’t want to postpone it and wait for FSBA.
Ms. Felton asked for a recap on how Mr. Dye would come in with Dr. Vogel. Mr. Choate indicated it is a third-party outside source to check and balance what is being sent and received from applicants. It would be a place outside the district where applicants apply, and they compile information to send to the board to avoid the awkwardness of HR having to do that. Dr. Vogel could give his professional opinion of the strengths and weaknesses of each candidate and use a background check firm that FSBA uses, which would go through Mr. Dye’s office, and that would all be submitted to the Board. Dr. Vogel would be the consultant. Mr. Choate said no money discussion has taken place yet, but his assumption is that he would be the lowest cost.
Mr. Choate reviewed the process used in the last Superintendent search. Mr. Kennedy said it was a tight timeline between closing applications and choosing finalists. Mr. Tatem indicated there is “something to be said for public comment.” Mr. Choate reminded the Board that they “can call a special workshop or meeting whenever we want.”
Mr. Kennedy suggested slight tweaks to the timeline. He agrees HYA is beyond the budget. The modified Zeal proposal was the most responsive. He had no idea that it was the Zeal gentleman who met his sister at a conference. He suggested June 18th was too close and needed to give the IT team two full days to get all the info online for the public. The district will be on a 4-day week, so they moved it to the 19th. Spray suggested noon instead of the end of business.
The discussion turned to the interview process. They talked about group interviews with consistent questions as well as having personal one-on-one interviews. They talked about public involvement in the interviews and whether or not the one-on-one interviews would be recorded. Mr. Kennedy said he wanted audio recordings. Ms. Spray indicated she wants a private meeting. Ms. Felton indicated if the candidate was not here, the interview could be recorded as it would be virtual. There was some discussion about whether to offer the public an opportunity to meet the finalists. Mr. Tatem said he likes the Dr. Vogel option.
Mr. Dye said it is a very public process, but the Board hires the Superintendent. A meet-the-candidates event can certainly do that. He would hesitate to open up the public, firing questions at candidates. The Board is hiring the Superintendent. Mr. Dye doesn’t think that would go well to have the public asking questions of finalists on the fly. Mr. Choate said we can ask the public to submit questions. He would be opposed to having the public pepper the candidate with questions. Mr. Kennedy said he would like to see how they are on their feet, and how they respond to pushback.
Other calendar comments resulted in the timeline noted above. There was ta acit agreement to have Mr. Dye’s firm and Dr. Vogel provide the needed support.
Proposed Job Posting for Superintendent.
Salary to be in the range of $220,000-$260,000. They indicated the previous posting had the salary range as $225,000 - $300,000.
Preferred or desired – experience as teacher, school-based administration, and district leadership administration; Florida experience; experience in district with at least 20,000 students (up from 10K.) Mr. Tatem questioned the need to list the preferred criteria saying it may deter good applicants and there may be someone with leadership qualifications gained outside of a public school district. Mr. Choate agreed saying deputy superintendents who were never teachers or school administrators could eliminate some very good candidates. Mr. Tatem gave Tommy Gregory’s appointment at SCF as an example of someone who he thought would be excellent as an experienced leader, even if he doesn’t have educational experience. He thinks strict criteria prevent interesting people from applying. Ms. Spray said she would consider someone who had not been a teacher. Mr. Tatem said Manatee is the 77th largest district in the country.
Mr. Choate asked Mr. Dye to tell them where to send the posting when it is ready to go. Advertising venues were discussed. FSBA is a free one, plus social media, district website, and the Florida Superintendent’s Association. Mr. Choate indicated there are other sites that cost money. They agreed not to advertise in Education Week because of the expense. Mr. Kennedy pointed out the need to advertise to a diverse audience with examples of publications that may reach Black and Latino applicants. Ms. Felton suggested that they spend some money to advertise since they are saving money not hiring someone to lead them through the search and selection process.
Mr. Dye asked the Chair and Mr. Chapman to remain after the meeting to sign Mr. Chapman’s contract.
Meeting adjourned at 11:15 a.m.
Watch the meeting at: https://www.youtube.com/
This special meeting notice was made at 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday for the Thursday meeting. The agenda and materials for this meeting were not posted 48 hours before the Special Meeting. Board By-Laws require a two-day notice.
The discussion at this meeting clearly indicates the Board is not prepared for this Superintendent search.
The proposed timeline for posting, identifying finalists, interviewing, and hiring a new Superintendent appeared to be tentative and rushed. We recommend that he final timeline for the Superintendent search be posted on the district website when the search begins on June 2.
Observers were concerned that there was inadequate vetting of the possible search firms, with no evaluation of their qualifications or reputation. Board Members were not provided with comparable proposals from each of the possible search firms. Board Members did not have full information to make a reasonable decision. No clear decision was made. When discussing search consultants, observers noted that HYA was described as providing three separate services for $13,000 each. If that’s the case, only two of the services were described as being needed, so the total would have been $26,000, not $40,000.
It appears there are many unanswered questions or unverified assumptions. How much will Dr. Vogel charge for his services? How much will Mr. Dye’s firm charge for their support in this endeavor? Will Dr. Vogel be hired by Mr. Dye’s firm or by the School Board? Which staff in the district or will School Board Members themselves pick up the tasks of creating interview guides, setting up interviews, shepherding applicants when they visit, and much more? It appears that a very specific action plan is needed regarding who will do what, when, and what it will cost, including both contracts and staff time. And this needs to be in place immediately.
Two Board Members have not experienced a Superintendent search and must rely on others' recollections of what was valuable or not in the last search. Ms. Felton asked helpful, clarifying questions. It appears that the Board is taking shortcuts in the search process and attempting to make it appear thorough. Will the public be able to trust the results?
Ms. Spray wanted to omit the end date spot in Mr. Chapman’s contract. Mr. Dye explained an employment contract needs a term, and that leaving it completely open-ended would create a scenario of legal interpretation if things didn’t go well. She appeared to have a very difficult time understanding this concept.
Reference to Mr. Chapman’s Superintendent status should be consistent. In this meeting, he was referenced as both acting and interim.
We caution that if the Superintendent uses his personal cell phone for business, this may complicate public records requests.
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