Broward School Board rejects naming interim superintendent permanent, wants public input
Although Broward County School Board members agreed Interim Superintendent Vickie Cartwright has performed well since they selected her in late July — during a pitched period battling Gov. Ron DeSantis over mask mandates in schools — they’re still not ready to put a ring on it.
During its Tuesday regular meeting, the board voted 6-3 against a motion proposed by District 7 Board Member Nora Rupert to appoint Cartwright as the permanent superintendent, negotiate a new employment agreement with her and skip a national search for another superintendent.
However, some said they would be open to discussing a change in Cartwright’s contract, which states she’s “ineligible” to apply for the permanent position, to allow her to do so down the road.
Cartwright, 50, stepped into the helm of the sixth-largest school district in the country Aug. 2, under a $275,000 annual contract. She most recently served as the superintendent for the Oshkosh, Wisconsin, public school system, but she spent most of her career in Orange County, Florida, the ninth largest school district in the nation.
The Broward board selected her to replace Superintendent Robert Runcie, who was indicted in April and charged with lying to a statewide grand jury. The board approved a $754,900 separation agreement in May. Runcie, who has pleaded not guilty, stayed on until Aug. 10.
Cartwright gets support from community
Cartwright joined the board in its battle against DeSantis and Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran over its mask mandate. The district was one of the first in the state to adopt a policy requiring all students, faculty and staff to wear masks inside Broward’s 256 public schools due to the delta variant of the coronavirus, which was surging in Florida in July and August.
The mandate defied DeSantis’ order, which required face coverings to be optional in schools, with parents having the final decision. The state withheld funds from the district to punish it over the mandate. At the end of September, the district said the Florida Department of Education had withheld $70,160 from Broward schools.
The Biden administration then stepped in, awarding the district $420,957 in a U.S. Department of Education grant.
Cartwright’s leadership has impressed some community leaders.
During the meeting’s public comment section, Dana Sanders, a teacher since 2004 and mother of two who attend school in Broward, praised Cartwright’s networking skills, mentioning the positive TikTok challenge the superintendent participated in recently.
“I like to tell my teenage son that I’m the cool mom, but I’m not cool enough nor brave enough to do a public TikTok challenge with high school students, but she did it,” Sanders said. “She has a way of connecting, not only with her peers and her leadership team, but with teachers and staff, and, more importantly, our students.”
Concern over rushing, without public input
Yet despite their approval of her leadership, some board members felt the proposal to bring her on as a permanent superintendent felt rushed. They also reminded fellow board members that in the summer, when they selected Cartwright, they committed to getting everyone’s input before selecting a permanent leader.
“We all gave our word to hold public meetings with stakeholders to identify our next superintendent, and I intend on keeping that promise,” said District 2 Board Member Patricia Good.
Board Member Ann Murray, who represents District 1, said the board told district employees that the interim superintendent would not be allowed to apply for the permanent position, so most internal candidates didn’t raise their hand. She said changing the rules now would be inappropriate.
“I cannot support this because I got emails over the weekend from different people saying, ‘What are you doing? Where are your ethics? What have you promised the community?’ ” Murray said.
“And I’m disappointed in Ms. Rupert for bringing this forward at this time, because we come from a very turbulent time politically here, and we brought forward someone that I think we can all admire and now you’ve weakened it by bringing this forward,” said Murray, addressing Rupert.
Rupert said she broached the subject of hiring Cartwright because she realized the board was scheduled to meet with Ray and Associates, a company that specializes in educational recruitment, next week to advance the search for a permanent superintendent.
She then wondered if that was even necessary, she said, and she wanted to discuss it with her colleagues, but the only way to do so, because of state Sunshine laws, was during a public meeting.
“I kept thinking, ‘You know what, we have our interim. We have been working with her for months. Let’s see what she’s done in this amount of time, what she’s capable of, and if we need to have Ray and Associates come up here,’ ” she said. “That was my process.”
“It was just a thought,” she added, “and that is why I brought it forward. There was no evil intent. There was no pushing.”
Two proposals shut down
Board Member Donna Korn proposed tabling Rupert’s action to allow time for additional feedback.
She suggested an amendment to Rupert’s motion that would allow the board to pause the superintendent job search, to provide stability to Cartwright, who she said has had difficulties filling out jobs and starting initiatives because of her temporary status. Then the board could reconsider the possibility of hiring Cartwright in three months, said Korn, a countywide at-large member.
Board Chairwoman Rosalind Osgood agreed.
“This district is very, very wounded on many levels,” Osgood said. “Think about being an interim superintendent with a lot of expectations, but limited power and authority to deliver those expectations.”
Korn’s amendment got voted down 6-3. Then the board voted 6-3 to reject Rupert’s proposal. The only ones who voted in favor in both cases: Korn, Rupert and Osgood.
District 4 Board Member Lori Alhadeff voted against making it permanent with Cartwright, but she said she wanted to change the word “ineligible” in Cartwright’s contract to “eligible” to allow her to apply, recognizing her good work. She said she would consider bringing that item in front of the board in the near future. Others said they would support that.
This story was originally published October 12, 2021 at 9:07 PM.
