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Brevard County school board members interviewed the three finalists Thursday for the interim superintendent position following the departure of Mark Mullins, who left last month after new board members and the chairman decided to move the school district in a different direction.
After reviewing and ranking 12 candidates, the Board has identified three top candidates to replace Mullins as it prepares to begin a search for a permanent BPS chief early next year. Interviews were held on Thursday with the hope of having a replacement ready to take over in early 2023 by next Tuesday.
Topping the list was Mark Rendell, director of the Cocoa Beach Jr./Sr. High School and former superintendent of the Indian River County School District. Rendell was the only candidate from Brevard Public Schools. He was followed by James Larsen, district superintendent of Orange County Public Schools, and Robert Schiller, an education consultant who has led school districts in four states, according to Tsuccessor resumes posted on the board’s website.
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Rendell pointed to his experience as an educator, and particularly as a superintendent in the state of Florida, saying it makes him uniquely poised to take on the role of leading Brevard County schools under the new board. “It won’t be new to me,” Rendell said as he described how he might hit the ground running in position.
Rendell left the Indian River district in 2019 after school board members could not agree on whether to renew his contract. Some less-than-stellar reviews of Rendell by the Indian River Board included concerns about finances, including $2.3 million that was diverted to countywide accounts by the then-chief financial officer without Rendell’s knowledge.
The episode made the district appear in worse financial shape than it was, nearly leading to spending cuts and prompting a complete review of its $291 million budget. Rendell suspended CFO Carter Morrison during an internal investigation, but Morrison later resigned, leaving the district without a finance chief for months.
However, the reports also noted that student achievement rose under Rendell’s leadership, including an 11 percentage point increase in graduation rates and significant increases in third-grade reading readiness and Advanced Placement course participation by black and Hispanic students.
During his interview Thursday, Rendell said he does things by the rules, even earning the nickname “The Book” while he was dean at Cocoa High School because of his consistency in enforcing the rules when it came to discipline.
He used that reputation to highlight how he would have handled certain BPS policies differently, specifically citing mask requirements during the COVID-19 pandemic. Because local mask rules conflicted with state directives issued by Gov. Ron DeSantis, creating controversy at the time, Rendell said his inclination to strictly follow such rules would have led him not to enact those same policies.
“In this time of transition, you need someone who already knows the job, knows Florida and knows Brevard,” Rendell told the board Tuesday.
In his job as district superintendent in Orange County, James Larsen oversees 30 schools. He spoke of his ability to administer a large school district, ensure academic excellence and make policy changes, such as approaches to discipline, a key focus of the new BPS board.
“Discipline should be administered at the lowest level appropriate to the offense necessary to change the behavior. Sometimes that can mean a 10-day suspension or expulsion,” Larsen said, basing decisions on the level of the offense. He also said he wants to take a data-driven approach to discipline, especially when addressing those from racial and other groups who may be disciplined at disproportionate rates. Creating programs that make them feel invested in their education can be used in tandem with discipline to ensure results, he added.
Robert Schiller is an education consultant who has served as an interim superintendent in various districts around the country and has also worked with superintendents to improve academic and other performance indicators. He cited his ability to take on difficult assignments, such as in Baltimore, where he led the district and turned around academic achievement in once-failing schools.
“We’re going to set the table and restore as much trust as possible through the budget, through our openness … and turn it around so that when your new chief comes in, that person can benefit from the fruits of our efforts,” he said
As for policy changes like those being considered by the new board, Schiller said it’s his duty to carry out their will. Schiller said he has the experience and insight to bring new policies to the board with “fidelity” and not inject his own “personal biases” into implementing them. “This is your community. It’s not mine and you know your community,” Schiller said. “You want to reflect the makeup, the direction, the philosophy of your community.”
For Schiller, the ultimate goal of taking on the interim chief job would be to keep the neighborhood and things ready for whoever is hired permanently. He said helping Brevard enter its next chapter will be as much a matter of personal satisfaction for him as anything else.
Tyler Vasquez is the North Brevard Watchdog reporter at FLORIDA TODAY. Contact Vasquez at 321-917-7491 or tvazquez@floridatoday.com. Twitter: @tyler_vazquez
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