ST. JOHNS COUNTY, Fla. – At least seven candidates are in the running to be the next superintendent to lead the St. Johns County School District.
Tim Forson will retire in June after serving nearly nine years as superintendent.
The application pool is expected to grow as the application period is open until March 28.
Beverly Slough, District 1 school board member, talked about the applicants.
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“Two or three of them look pretty strong. We expect some internal applicants before it’s over with. So we’ll see as time goes by,” Slough said.
Slough said once they have their pool of applicants, the board will meet to determine the semifinalists.
“I don’t know how many we’ll choose. We’ll just have to wait and see what the pool looks like,” Slough said.
The seven candidates' applications are available online. Click here to view. The website includes a timeline for the search and a community input section.
“There are no applicants that are not being shared with the board and the community that the board and community gets full access to all of the applicant information,” Andrea Messina with the Florida School Boards Association, an organization assisting with the search, said.
Messina also added that it’s important to keep the process public because the candidates are looking to represent public schools.
“The public is the community,” Messina said. “These are the communities' schools. So the board would like to have the community involved and their feedback in who they want the community as the next leader of the school district.”
There are a few more steps left before a new superintendent is named, but Slough said it’s an exciting time for the school district.
“Especially when we come off of a successful tenure with the leader that we have,” she said. “So, it’s a lot harder if you’re trying to replace someone who’s been challenged. But we don’t. We have the luxury of having had a good tenure with our superintendent, so it’s going to be a positive experience. I’m looking forward to it.”