School Board of Alachua County agrees to extend Superintendent’s contract to June 2027

BY JENNIFER CABRERA

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – At a workshop on October 15, the School Board of Alachua County decided to extend the contract of the current Superintendent until June 2027 and begin the process of selecting a search firm, with the goal of hiring a new Superintendent by January or February 2027.

Introducing the agenda item on the Superintendent search, Chair Sarah Rockwell said the Board needed to make decisions on whether to have a national or state search, whether they want to use the Florida School Board Association (FSBA) to conduct the search or put out a Request for Proposals (RFP) for a search firm, and the timeline for the search.

Patton: “I would entertain staying an additional year, if it was needed.”

Rockwell said the first question was whether Superintendent Kamela Patton would be willing to extend her contract past the current end date of June 30, 2026, and Patton said, “I would entertain staying an additional year, if it was needed.”

The last time the Board discussed conducting a Superintendent search, in January 2025, they decided they didn’t have time to do that before the Superintendent’s contract expired at the end of June 2025, and they asked Patton to extend the contract to the end of June 2026. At the time, Patton said, “What I’m saying is that I’d be happy to request a year extension to take it to June of 2026… but no other extensions. It’s June of 2026, that’s a public pledge, that I would also not be part of that next search.” At the time, she also suggested starting the search in October 2025, which would set up interviews for April 2026.

However, at today’s meeting, Rockwell said the Board needed to talk about “whether our district is in a position right now to do a search and attract good candidates.”

Vu: “I don’t feel like we’re in a state where we necessarily would attract the desired candidate.”

Member Thomas Vu agreed that the district is not ready, “partially because I don’t feel like we’re in a state where we necessarily would attract the desired candidate. I still think we have a lot of work to do for that, in terms of just stabilizing district operations [and the] perception of ACPS and the Board at large… No, we’re not ready right now.” He favored extending Patton’s contract for an additional year and beginning the process of choosing a search firm. He also suggested that a new Superintendent could start in January 2027 and work alongside Patton until June 2027, which could mean paying two Superintendents during that time.

McNealy: “Our students, staff, and community deserve the stability and long-term vision that come with a permanent Superintendent.”

Member Leanetta McNealy said she brought old newspapers to show the promises that had been made about conducting Superintendent searches. She said she appreciates Patton and the progress she has made, but “it’s time to take the next step. Our students, staff, and community deserve the stability and long-term vision that come with a permanent Superintendent.” She said she recently asked Patton whether she would consider being the permanent Superintendent, and Patton said she was not interested in doing that. 

Certain: District is “not in a position to attract, in my view, a candidate of the caliber we need.”

Vice Chair Tina Certain said she had promised to conduct a search when she was campaigning, but she and Rockwell were the dissenting votes when the board decided against doing that in May 2023. She said the district is currently “not in a position to attract, in my view, a candidate of the caliber we need.” She said that being under the current order from the Florida Department of Education (DOE) “is a real big cloud,” and she said she was told by a DOE employee that the State is concerned about “distractions… [like] seven or eight Superintendents in 12 years; there’s this constant change, lack of focus and continuity that he would say distracts and has negatively impacted student achievement. I couldn’t argue with that.”

Certain said she favored doing a search, but “it has to be done in a very orderly manner,” so she agreed with extending Patton’s contract by a year, and she preferred to have FSBA conduct the search, “based on cost and just familiarity in that space with Florida and procuring leaders.” She said she would like to have the job posted by January or February, with the new Superintendent overlapping with part of Patton’s contract. 

Plavac: “Maybe the State would appreciate us taking that step and looking to see what’s out there, rather than not taking that step.”

Member Janine Plavac said she has a great relationship with Patton, but she was concerned that there could be three new School Board members in November 2026, “so we might not even be part of the process, but I think we owe it to be part of the process. I think that we know what we want; we’ve seen what we want… I see no reason not to start a search… because we can’t say… what isn’t available because we don’t have to accept anybody that we don’t think is good… If we have potentially three new board members [next year], then it’s starting all over again… Maybe the State would appreciate us taking that step and looking to see what’s out there, rather than not taking that step… I also think we have to show the community that we are trying… Why say we won’t get anybody if we don’t try?”

Rockwell on her campaign promise to conduct a search: “The situation that we’re in now is completely different.”

Rockwell said her promise to conduct a Superintendent search was “at a time that we had a Superintendent who came in truly with the idea of being a short-term Superintendent.” She said she voted with Certain to conduct a search, but they were outvoted, “so I did stand by my campaign promise… The situation that we’re in now is completely different.” She said the Board members who voted against the search later voted to terminate that Superintendent’s contract without cause, “and we were incredibly lucky to have Dr. Patton step into the role… The other difference right now is that we do have the State Board of Education order over us, and our district is under additional scrutiny, which makes it even more critical that we are focused on the work of the district right now.”

Rockwell also said a search costs money, “and if we do it and don’t get good candidates, that is money that has gone down the drain.” She also said that failing to attract good candidates in a search could affect the district’s reputation and future ability to attract good candidates. She favored issuing an RFP for a national search firm “to see what all of our options are,” and she didn’t think there was time to do an RFP and complete a search by June. 

Rockwell said she heard Plavac’s concern about new Board members, but she thought that if that happened, the new Board members should select the Superintendent “because I don’t want the new Board members to come on and fire that person almost immediately, which we have had happen in the past.”

McNealy: “I’m disappointed that one more time, we put off important, critical things that are needed because of our individual commitment to Dr. Patton.”

McNealy said she couldn’t understand her colleagues’ hesitation, “even though I’ve heard each of you and I admire each of you, but I can say that I’m disappointed that one more time, we put off important, critical things that are needed because of our individual commitment to Dr. Patton.” She asked to put the discussion on a meeting agenda so they could have a full discussion and vote, and “then maybe some changes will occur in your mind and in your heart.”

Patton said she viewed a “permanent” role as 10-12 years and said, “I don’t know if I would do 10 or 12 years again, but I certainly would, for sure, do one [year], and hopefully you’re in that spot that you can get [a great Superintendent]. There’s no question.” 

Vu favored doing a national search and issuing an RFP as soon as possible, “and see if we can find someone who’s willing to have concurrent time with Dr. Patton, starting after January 2027.”

Certain said she thought it was unlikely that an experienced Superintendent would be willing to change districts in the middle of the school year, but she agreed with starting the process of choosing a search firm and working on the job description. 

Patton said the transition period could be structured in a number of different ways, including buying a number of days before the new Superintendent starts full-time, so the incoming Superintendent could spend some time in the district while still remaining in their current position. 

Vote will be on November 4

Board members agreed to place an action item on the agenda of the November 4 meeting for a formal vote on a staff recommendation to start the RFP process. In response to a question from Plavac, Patton said the remaining meetings this year are on November 4 (6 p.m.), November 19 (10 a.m. – an organizational meeting followed by a workshop), and December 16 (6 p.m.).