School Board Members move toward hiring Andrew as permanent Superintendent after heated discussion

BY JENNIFER CABRERA

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – At their October 17 meeting, the Alachua County School Board voted against a proposed contract with the Florida School Board Association (FSBA) to conduct a search for a permanent Superintendent and instead scheduled a discussion for December 5 on hiring current Interim Superintendent Shane Andrew.

Contract for Superintendent search

The contract would have paid $35,000 to FSBA to conduct a national search for a permanent Superintendent starting in January, as was decided by the Board at the May 2, 2023 meeting; that vote, which passed 3-2 with Chair Tina Certain and Member Sarah Rockwell in dissent, was to extend Andrew’s contract to June 2024 and begin the search for a permanent Superintendent in January 2024.

Rockwell made a motion to approve the contract with FSBA, and when there was no second, Certain seconded the motion herself. Although she offered to pass the gavel to Rockwell, Board Attorney David Delaney told the Board that she does not need to pass the gavel to second a motion.

During public comment on the motion, Armando Grundy-Gomes said it’s important to have a search. Anne Koterba agreed that the Board needs to conduct a national search: “If Mr. Andrew is the best candidate, that is great. It validates him and everything else. If you stop a search now, do you really know that he’s the best person?” Justice Alexander, Student Body President of Eastside High School, said Andrew has “made himself very available and open to students, faculty, and parents alike… While I do agree students do deserve the best candidate for such a position… we have an extremely capable candidate right here in front of us. To try and switch that around now would cause a sense of uncertainty and anxiety that does not necessarily need to be provoked at this moment when we have much more prominent issues.”

Evelyn Foxx said the apparent reluctance to start the search seemed “pre-orchestrated.” She mentioned a Facebook post in which Certain wrote, “I’m so disappointed in Shane, his team and my board members,” apparently referencing the rezoning process. Foxx sent the post to  Alachua Chronicle at our request, and it is shown below.

Foxx: “We didn’t elect you to publicly say ugly things on Facebook about your Superintendent”

Foxx said to Certain, “As hard as we worked to elect you to represent us, then you are going to put all of this ugly stuff and more on a Facebook page. Is that professional?… It’s got to stop, Ms. Certain. It’s not nice, and we didn’t elect you to publicly say ugly things on Facebook about your Superintendent, about your Board members, and the team–and the team are the people that work for us! You shouldn’t do that, and I’m disappointed in you.”

Karen Alford said the district has a “lot on our plate” and that the Board should decide what they’re looking for in a Superintendent before launching a search. She said Andrew is “stable in our community… He’s dedicated, he’s loyal… We have someone that is functional. Let’s leave it alone.”

Certain, who doesn’t normally respond to public comment, responded to Alford, saying the vote to do a search was held in May and that the reason she was bringing the contract to the Board was that some preliminary things need to be done before the search starts. She said the search would be done by FSBA and not by staff, so it wouldn’t be additional work for district staff. 

Abbitt: “I think he’s a visible leader, and he provides a lot of stability for the district”

Member Kay Abbitt said there have been “much-needed changes” since Andrew became Interim Superintendent: “He replaced some personnel who had become very complacent with their jobs. He now has staff in place who work with him and not against him… He’s appointed new Chiefs who are making really positive changes; Teaching and Learning has a presence in schools now… He has hired a Deputy Superintendent who works with all departments, and we get reports now… from every department on what’s been happening for the past couple of weeks, and that’s very beneficial… I think he’s a visible leader, and he provides a lot of stability for the district… I think he needs time to bring about these changes… I don’t think that now is a good time to do a Superintendent search… Those kids in east Gainesville can’t wait for another round of a Superintendent… May was a long time ago… I’ve changed my mind… I think that we should go ahead and vote on the motion about whether or not we’re going to approve this contract, and then I’m going to make another motion that we extend his contract.”

Delaney advised against extending the contract at that meeting because the item had not been advertised; he suggested putting the contract on a future agenda.

Andrew: Current contract is “not a Superintendent’s contract”

Andrew said, “If a Board Member brings forward an action item to revisit the Superintendent’s contract, renegotiate the Superintendent’s contract prior to July 1st, that can be done prior to July 1st… If you vote down the search, then you could take action, make a motion, and direct the Board Attorney to go ahead and start working on a contract with the Superintendent, effective January 1. That’s a Superintendent’s contract, not the contract that we have in place currently at this time, which I would argue is not a Superintendent’s contract, when compared to other Superintendents across the state of Florida.”

Certain said, “For the public: when it comes back, he’s gonna ask for $200,000, because that’s the discussion that came up in the meeting.”

Abbitt said to Certain, “You are so out of line.” Certain responded, “I’m the Chair.”

Board Member Leanetta McNealy asked whether public comment on the item was over, and Certain realized a caller had been waiting, so she took the call, which was from Tina Days. Days said she supported keeping Andrew as the Superintendent.

McNealy: “[Andrew] is going to make the difference if our Board group can work and unify with him”

McNealy said Andrews has “been an excellent communicator with me… He is certainly a relationship builder. He has the ability, colleagues, to solve problems, whether you want to believe it or not. I’ve seen that… I don’t care if we ever rezone, if we ever build another building, but it’s about the students… When it comes to the students and their needs, he does that and is looking for that… He is going to make the difference if our Board group can work and unify with him… I have no problem with listening to Chairman [sic] Certain, but what I cannot listen to is that at this point in time, we need to go forward with a search… Do you hear me, colleagues? I hope you do… Thank you to Superintendent Andrew. I’m so upset at this point because you need to be here.”

McGraw: “The games have gone on too long.“

Member Diyonne McGraw said the Board had decided to do the search only five months after she was sworn in, in November 2022, “and I was so puzzled by that.” She said that, as a new Board Member, she didn’t understand why it was so difficult to get things on the agenda, and she wondered, “Why is it that we want to change again, so quickly? And how does that benefit children? And how does that affect the staff?” She said the Board is “not respectful enough, collectively, of one another… I would never vote against something that’s best for children because I don’t play those games.” She said Andrew has been “attacked and attacked” and said she knows what that feels like because she and her daughter have been attacked.

McGraw called out people who “play the games by putting articles in newspapers, texting one another during meetings to give information… All of those are distractors that take from children who have been hurting since COVID.”

McGraw said other members of the Board “attack because that’s what politics is, so that I’m able to have my way or… distort what’s going on, so that I can make somebody else look bad… We’re attacking one another. And when we’re on Facebook, saying things that are inappropriate–we’re held to a higher standard because we serve on this Board.” She said it’s more appropriate to “call people, you pick up the phone, you talk to them. You don’t come in here and browbeat people… I want to say to this community: ignore all of the stuff you’ve heard in the Gainesville Sun. It’s not true. Mr. Andrew has been visible. He goes into the schools… When people are attacked and attacked and attacked, it comes to a point where the issue of the person who’s doing that, it needs to be addressed… The games have gone on too long… In Alachua County Public Schools, change is happening, and it’s under the leadership of Mr. Shane Andrew.”

McGraw concluded, “We don’t need a search right now. We need some healing, people need to apologize, and we need to do what’s best for children… I would not want anybody to come into this district and talk about new leadership when we don’t have it all together as a Board. I rest my thoughts.”

Rockwell: “For me, it’s about… the promise I made to the community.”

Rockwell said Dr. Carlee Simon was appointed without a search, “and that was a huge point of contention within our community because they felt like the Board made a unilateral decision without transparency and adequate community input.” She said she had promised during her campaign that she would not appoint a Superintendent without a search and added, “For me, it doesn’t mean that that search wouldn’t result in Mr. Andrew staying Superintendent. For me, it’s about… the promise I made to the community.”

Certain said she had “never kept anything off the agenda that you asked me–you wanted the behavior thing, and that is on the Superintendent.” McGraw’s microphone was not on, but she said that was not true. 

Certain said that when she first asked Andrew if he was interested in being Superintendent, “it was with the intent of being Interim. It was never permanent.” She said her goal was always to have a search and added, “I call a spade a spade, and I’ve been right on several things since I’ve been on the Board, and I probably will continue to be right; I hope I am wrong, and I wish for nothing but success for the staff and for that to trickle down to our students.”

Rockwell’s motion failed 2-3, with only Certain and Rockwell voting for the motion. 

McNealy requests contract discussion for December 5

McNealy asked to make a request for a December agenda, and Certain asked her to email the request because this was her last meeting as Chair (the board elects a new Chair every November). 

McNealy said she was making a motion to have “a Superintendent’s contract renegotiated by the December 5” School Board meeting. McGraw said she also had a request, but Certain said the Citizen Input agenda item was next, before Board Member Requests.

Rockwell asked whether McNealy’s motion needed a second and a vote, and Delaney said it didn’t need to be a motion. McNealy said, “It’s in the record, is it not? I made the request, Attorney Delaney.” McGraw seconded the motion, and the Board decided to handle the request as a motion.

During public comment on the motion, Anne Koterba reiterated that she supported a search. A man whose name was unclear said Andrew is “the right person” and that the Board should “put every single thing behind Superintendent Andrew” and invest in him. Rochelle George called in to praise members of the Board for learning and evolving: “I applaud those of you that are willing to take a very unpopular stand with some people… That is brave.”

Rockwell said she was going to vote for the motion “because I think that any Board Member’s request should get onto the agenda, and we shouldn’t have to have a motion for that.” However, she suggested moving the contract renegotiation to after the second vote on rezoning in January. 

Abbitt: “This Board meeting was embarrassing tonight.”

Abbitt said, “I think we need to move forward… Let’s just vote for it, extend the man’s contract, and give him a chance to do his work… And this Board meeting was embarrassing tonight. I was embarrassed to be sitting up here. If, as a group, we’re not going to be able to work together, very little is going to get accomplished… We spent so much time in here tonight, and I tell you, it’s not improving instruction in those SI schools at all, anything we talked about tonight.”

Certain said she didn’t favor extending Andrew’s contract, but the Board could discuss it on a future agenda. The vote for McNealy’s motion was unanimous.