Last Updated: 3:58 p.m.
The Flagler County School Board this afternoon agreed to suspend its search for a new superintendent and instead set in motion several steps that would lead to the appointment of Interim LaShakia Moore as the permanent district superintendent come September or October.
“I could see everybody was kind of happy, which I haven’t seen in a long tie, so it’s good,” Board Chair Cheryl Massaro said as her colleagues resolved to suspend the search in midafternoon today, during an information workshop.
Massaro had started the discussion by proposing to suspend the search. Moore, she said, “has had two and a half month interview on the job and I believe that our district is moving forward, which we need to be. I know she has a lot of support from the schools. We’ve seen her in various situations. And as I looked at this, I looked at the culture and the learning environment, and I went, Oh, wow, we already have somebody that could handle all this and move the district in the direction it needs to go.” She said the decision would save the district a lot of time and a lot of money. She cautioned against going through an entire search and ending up with Moore anyway.
The board will formalize the suspension of the search with a vote at this evening’s meeting, after 6 p.m. It could not take that vote during a workshop.
The shift was only partly surprising: Moore was a formidable contender all along, the only question being whether she would be willing to take on the permanent job, given the board’s mercurial membership.
Moore herself seemed to answer that question as she launched the new school year in the last two weeks–welcoming faculty and staff, then spending the first day on school on each campus–earning high praise from board members, faculty and staff for the immersive and enthusiastic way she took on the task. She confirmed it as she sat through this afternoon’s discussion, without objection. But the board’s challenge–and Moore’s almost certain wish–will be to secure a 5-0 vote for her hiring. Nothing less, on a school board defined more by division and unpredictability, would do.
She also answered the question explicitly this afternoon: “If this board feels that we could do collaborative work together and do great work for our community, then absolutely I would be interested in that,” Moore said. “But if I’m not the candidate and it’s someone else, I respect that decision as well.”
Some board meetings were ready to make a motion this evening to hire Moore. But others preferred going through a few steps first: getting the full response from an ongoing community survey about the superintendent (it’s drawn only 124 responses so far), going through another round of one-on-one interviews with Moore, and holding a board “retreat” on Aug. 24 where Moore’s role will be central to the discussion. (The retreat would be open to the public: while Board member Will Furry twice referred to the possibility of an “executive session” to discuss the superintendent matter, it would be illegal for the board to have any part of that discussion behind closed doors. The school board attorney corrected him on that count.)
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The board this afternoon was scheduled to hear an update on its search from the state School Board Association’s Bill Vogel and John Reichert, two of the three consultants shepherding the search for the board. They were at the table. They were not surprised, either: they’ve seen school boards make just such a shift, when boards felt they had an interim who would fill the permanent job just as well.
Indeed, the Flagler school board has its own experience with that: three of the last five superintendents–Bill Delbrugge, Janet Valentine and Jacob Oliva–were hired from within, Delbrugge and Valentine without a search, and Oliva with a pro forma search whose outcome was foretold all along.
Board member Colleen Conklin, serving since 2000 (Moore would be her eighth superintendent), referred to that history with Delbrugge, whom she described as “one of the best superintendents we’ve ever had in Flagler County.” Conklin continued: “I would support suspending this whole process, saving the money, the time and the energy and the focus. And I would very seriously consider a motion to make LaShakia the superintendent and move forward. What I saw at the kickoff was an energy that I have not seen in this district in years. The buy-in from our teachers, to our custodial staff, to our administrative staff, to our directors to transportation, food service, literally every department, the energy was positive. There were very difficult messages she had to delivered that day. It was done in a very, very professional, matter of fact kind of manner. She included all of us in that opportunity. And I just think she’d be a great superintendent.”
Her appointment would also allay fears in the ranks of yet more uncertainty.
Moore was elevated to principal at Rymfire Elementary by Superintendent Jim Tager, who has often spoken since of her potential as a superintendent. Former Superintendent Cathy Mittelstadt made her the district’s assistant superintendent. Moore combines a commanding presence on the board with a natural ease and rapport in the trenches, an ease she displayed on the first day of school as she mingled with students and staff: she is in her element in both environments.
Massaro’s idea drew some qualified resistance. “I’m not in favor of just voting and saying she’s our new superintendent,” School Board member Sally Hunt said. “What I wouldn’t be in favor of if this is a possible process is expediting her process.” Board member Will Furry thought the same way, calling for an “executive session” and one-on-one interviews with Moore. Board member Christy Chong saw Moore in action this week , as did Furry. “There’s great energy across our campuses,” Chong said.
The consultants were on the verge of advertising the position. That will not take place.
“We’re going the right way. We have a good base. We have somebody that’s leading us and I think that they would do a wonderful job,” Massaro said. “We’re going to motion tonight to suspend this, just suspend the search for the possibility of setting up an adequate time for us to review the situation and appoint Ms. Moore.”
The board agreed to a three-hour workshop on Aug. 24 to discuss Moore (which it calls a “retreat”), from 9 a.m. to noon, presumably at th Government Services Building–a specific room has not been determined–followed by a special meeting in the days or weeks following.
