The School Board of Alachua County (SBAC) discussed the timeline for the request for proposal (RFP) process to secure a search firm to lead the search for a permanent superintendent at a meeting on Tuesday.  

Dr. Kamela Patton has been serving as interim superintendent of Alachua County Public Schools (ACPS) since November 2024. This followed a split vote by the SBAC to fire former Superintendent Shane Andrew in October 2024. 

In November 2025, the board voted unanimously to move forward with the RFP process to seek out search firms nationwide to lead the search for a permanent superintendent. This came nearly a month after the SBAC held a workshop focused on the superintendent search and what the process would look like.  

At that October 2025 workshop, most of the board members also agreed on doing the RFP. 

At Tuesday’s meeting, Deborah Terry, ACPS’s assistant superintendent for human resources, went over the RFP process, as well as the timeline for selecting a search firm.  

According to Terry’s presentation, the RFP process involves looking for just a search firm and spans roughly six to eight weeks.  

Terry said superintendent search firms can cost an average of $50,000 to $55,000. She added that this figure could increase “with the level of services.” 

“Once we secure the search firm, then they will meet with you [the board] to get all the timelines for the number of stakeholder meetings, the timeline for selection of candidates and how those will be, and the transition timeline,” Terry said. “But tonight, what we’re talking about is the timeline to secure a search firm.” 

As for that timeline, Terry said the district was going to send out the RFP on Wednesday, adding that this would go out across the nation.  

Terry said proposals from the search firms are due on June 2. From June 2-4, she noted that the proposals will be reviewed for conformity. 

“They [the search firms] have a check sheet to make sure that they have answered everything on the RFP…” Terry said, referring to it as a “paper screening.” 

After the Proposal Evaluation Committee (PEC) reviews the search firms and a sunshine meeting is held for tabulation of committee scoring, Terry said a short-list of vendors will make presentations to the SBAC on Aug. 4. This is also when the board is expected to award a contract to one of the vendors. 

The anticipated contract start date for the search firm is Aug. 5, according to Terry’s presentation. 

On Sept. 2, there will be a board workshop to “finalize the timeline for the superintendent search and selection process,” according to Terry’s presentation. 

Terry also noted in her presentation that any possible additional costs, including costs of travel and lodging for the superintendent candidate finalists, would be the responsibility of ACPS. 

During board discussion, Chair Thomas Vu proposed moving the Sept. 2 workshop up to mid-August, saying he felt it was a little too late after the contract’s start date. 

“I don’t think this [search] firm is going to need a whole month to bring something back to us and then us to make a decision on timelines and things like that,” he said. 

While she didn’t disagree with Vu’s suggestion, Board Member Tina Certain expressed that she originally wasn’t in favor of the RFP process, saying she wanted the board to use the Florida School Board Association (FSBA) for the superintendent search. She noted the FSBA’s experience, expertise and contacts in doing the superintendent searches.  

Vice Chair Leanetta McNeally, who attended Tuesday’s meeting virtually, agreed with Certain on the board using FSBA for the search. 

Board Attorney David Delaney clarified that doing the RFP does not prevent the SBAC from working with FSBA.  

“If they [FSBA] wish to submit a proposal and compete with other [search] firms, they can be scored and evaluated,” he said. “The board could decide which search firm they would like to move forward with, which could end up being FSBA.” 

Certain verified with Delaney that the board isn’t required to go through the RFP process to use FSBA, which he said was correct. 

Board Member Janine Plavac questioned the delay in sending out the RFP after the board’s initial vote in November.  

“At the Nov. 4 board meeting, the motion was made to go forward with the RFP from qualified firms for nationwide superintendent search services,” she said, referring to the minutes from the meeting. “And it passed 5-0.” 

Delaney said the board’s motion didn’t include a “specific start date or directive to when this RFP needs to be issued.” 

Plavac followed up on Delaney’s comment. 

“It [the motion] says to go forward with it [the RFP] and submit per board vote and direction,” she said. “That’s very concrete. So, somebody made a decision to not go forward.” 

Later in the discussion, Patton said there was “no intention on anybody’s part” to delay the RFP. 

“We had numerous conversations. We talked about how we had just started rezoning in November. There was a lot of reasons why nobody told us to go ahead and do that [send out the RFP] at that spot,” she said. “It’s been a lot of months since then that nobody has said, ‘hey, you didn’t get anything done.’ So, I just want to be really clear. Nobody is trying to do anything behind anybody’s back. I think I’ve been here long enough that anything you give me, I do.” 

The board ultimately agreed with Vu’s suggestion about moving up the Sept. 2 workshop date. That meeting with the awarded search firm to finalize the superintendent search timeline and selection process will now be held at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 19. 

Nick Anschultz is a Report for America corps member and writes about education for Mainstreet Daily News. This position is supported by local donations through the Community Catalyst for Local Journalism Fund at the Community Foundation of North Central Florida.