School board superintendent fired

BY JENNIFER CABRERA

Alachua County Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Carlee Simon was fired by the school board tonight on a 3-2 vote.

Dr. Simon was hired as Interim Superintendent on December 15, 2020, after the former superintendent (who had previously resigned but had planned to stay through the end of the school year) was fired at the first meeting of newly-elected Member Diyonne McGraw; Simon became the permanent superintendent on March 16, 2021. The first effort to remove her began in May of 2021 when a “No Confidence” petition began circulating.

Governor DeSantis declared McGraw’s seat vacant on June 17, after it became known that McGraw did not live in the district for her seat. Mildred Russell was appointed to the vacant seat by the governor on August 18 and was widely expected to form a coalition to fire Simon, but months went by without a motion to terminate her contract. However, evaluations of Simon’s performance were discussed at the board’s February 8, 2022, meeting, and Russell then asked that Simon’s contract be added to the agenda of an upcoming meeting.

At tonight’s meeting, Russell made a quick motion to terminate Simon, effective March 3, without cause and with 20 weeks’ severance pay, and hire an interim as soon as possible; Member Gunnar Paulson quickly seconded the motion. Member Leanetta McNealy objected, saying she thought they were only going to discuss the contract, but Chair Rob Hyatt moved to public comment on the motion.

54 people spoke during public comment, with 33 speaking in favor of keeping Simon and 21 speaking in favor of terminating her.

After public comment, Simon had a chance to speak: “This is a political position, and I’ve been in education for a long time… The political world has really caused a lot of damage in education. It’s happening right now in Tallahassee, it’s happening in this situation.” She then looked directly at Russell: “It’s political, and you made it personal.” Turning back to the audience, she concluded, “I am proud of my record, and in years to come, I will still be proud of my record… I knew that I wasn’t gonna be here long… I’m not going away, whether I have this job or not… It’s been an honor.”

McNealy spoke for a long time, reading all of Simon’s curriculum vitae, along with editorial comments. She said the school board was dysfunctional before Simon got there and reiterated a request she has made several times for the board to have a retreat.

Hyatt said his evaluation is a public record and that he could look in the mirror and feel comfortable with his vote because “this is something I take seriously. I take children in this district seriously, and I told Dr. Simon early on that I was not going to be part of dragging her through the mud… Right now, we have a school system that really is in disarray… we’ve got people who feel like the hatchet is going to drop. This is something that is real, it’s widespread, it’s not a rogue person here and there, and it’s very serious… I’ve talked very clearly with the superintendent… Things are not working for our school system, and it takes more than talk to make it work.”

Hyatt, Paulson, and Russell voted to terminate Simon, while Tina Certain and McNealy voted to retain her. Donna Jones was named Acting Superintendent, and the board will decide who to appoint as Interim Superintendent at their next meeting in two weeks.