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School board sets steps for interim superintendent search By MEGHAN BRADBURY / [email protected] - | May 7, 2021 After much more discussion, the Lee County School Board further laid out the steps it will take to take to search for an interim superintendent during a workshop on May 4. The board discussed the language for its job position posting, outlets and budget to list the job post and three potential consultants. After a very lengthy discussion, the board agreed that the verbiage of three years of effective, or highly effective public school classroom teaching experience was not needed as an essential job function qualification. ....
Kids learn better in classrooms Face-to-face models show greatest gains in proficiency; student accomplishment expected to continue to improve in quarter 4 By MEGHAN BRADBURY - | May 5, 2021 Kids learn better in school classrooms, data collected by the School District of Lee County shows. Although distance learning proved to be effective in some areas, numbers presented to the School Board of Lee County this week pointed towards the “face-to-face” model showing the greatest gains in student proficiency as measured by the number of students showing a satisfactory or higher level of achievement. District officials, though, concede that no group of students regardless of whether they are attending classes on campus, or taking part in one of the two distance or remote learning options is performing to a level the district would have hoped for pre-pandemic, officials said. ....
Debates heating up over replacement The seven-member board will be seeking a short-term replacement to work while undergoing a national search for a permanent replacement. Local consultants Joe Mazurkiewicz, Cole Peacock and Scott Kashman will be working with the board members to find an interim superintendent. The debates grew heated at times. “It has already taken us two hours to make one decision,” said District 3 board member Chris Patricca. “A highly-functioning board would have done this in half an hour.” Said District 6 and vice-chair Betsy Vaughn, looking at her watch: “We’re just not getting anywhere.” But finally, the board reached the conclusions to advertise the job Friday with the consultants available to assist. ....
A Lee County school board meeting got off to a shaky start Monday evening , when the elected officials faced a rowdy audience that often cheered and booed about a one-page flyer that outlines the civil rights of LGBTQ+ students. The meeting was advertised as a pre-briefing, or non-voting session, to give board members a first look at what might be included in next year’s student handbook. A crowd of at least 350 people attended the meeting to speak for and against the one-page flyer, which was included in this year s Code of Conduct. Many schools put up posters of the flyer around campus, and staff reported similar one-page documents are in place in Alachua, Brevard, Broward, Collier, Duval, Indian River, Hernando, Hillsborough, Leon, Manatee, Martin, Miami-Dade, Monroe, Okeechobee, Orange, Palm Beach, Pasco, Pinellas, Sarasota, St. Lucie and Volusia counties. ....
Adkins announced April 16 he intends to resign at the end of his contract, which is up June 30. School board members met Tuesday afternoon to discuss next steps, grappling with hot-button issues like whether Adkins could finish out his remaining 64 days and how to move forward with a timeline for replacing him. Board members stepped slowly through the conversation, taking consensus votes with a sign of a thumbs-up, thumbs-down or a live-with-it sideways thumb vote to signify their positions. Adkins was not present for the discussion. Anyone who takes on the district’s top role, regardless of whether they are considered a short- or long-term hire, would need to be sworn in and act as a superintendent. Loosely used words like “acting” or “interim” do not exist, and often board members referred to the temporary appointment in air quotes during the discussion. ....