
Interim Superintendent Kamela Patton has offered to extend her contract to create more time to search for her permanent replacement and to allow for a transition period between her and the new superintendent.
Patton made the offer at a regular meeting of the School Board of Alachua County (SBAC) on Tuesday.
The board was set to discuss its plan for a national superintendent search, and staff brought three options to consider, but board discussion quickly turned to concerns about the tight timeline required to replace Patton by July 1 of this year, when her contract expires.
The board hired Patton on a six-month contract in November after firing former superintendent Shane Andrew on a split vote in October.
Board Member Kay Abbitt, who made the motion to terminate Andrew, resigned from the board last month so she could step in as interim director of a charter school she co-founded in 2013.
“This is… an unplanned search,” Board Chair Sarah Rockwell said on Tuesday. “I don’t think I, or anyone sitting up here would have planned it where we have such a tight timeline.”
Board members differed at Tuesday’s meeting on whether they preferred to directly contract the Florida School Board Association (FSBA) for a direct contract, make a request for information from multiple search firms before choosing one, or issue a request for proposal (RFP) for search firms to make their bids.
Each board member voiced concerns about the timeline of the search, which staff said would run March through June, for a new superintendent to start on July 1.
“We need to make sure that we bring order to the chaos first so we can attract the best possible candidate,” Board Member Thomas Vu said. “This is something I don’t want to rush. This needs to be a diligent process, just making sure we get the best possible person here, to do the best possible job for our students, teachers and the community.”
Rockwell said the process needs citizen input, and if the SBAC chooses the RFP option interviews would be in May, which is inevitably packed with end-of-school events and obligations.
Board Member Leanetta McNealy said the SBAC has always used FSBA to find superintendents, and if it is to look at other options she wanted adequate time to look into them.
Board Member Tina Certain said Alachua County Public Schools (ACPS) is not ready to conduct a search, and a lack of transition time between Patton’s contract ending June 30 and a new superintendent starting July 1 would bump board priorities such as rezoning, a strategic plan and finances, further down the road.
Certain also said that if the search is too rushed, ACPS could end up with another superintendent who does not last long and searches that “aren’t getting cheaper.”
“This isn’t a spot where anybody can just do this job,” Certain said. “This is a skill position. It’s working collaboratively with [the board]…to operationalize what our vision and our goals and our mission are.”
When McNealy said she wanted to hear from Patton about the search options, the interim superintendent responded with an offer to extend her current contract to June 2026, with a public pledge not to extend any further, and not to apply for the permanent position.
Patton said her goal at ACPS has been to stabilize and set up a roadmap for a permanent superintendent, and in the five weeks of active work she has had there she said there has already been good progress.
“What two [board members] have mentioned, but I know all of us would agree, to actually provide a transition for that person, to be here in person, watching through and seeing things. That would be really great, because I know I could step out and say I’m part of the team,” Patton said.
Patton said she will work with the board attorney to create an addendum to her contract, extending to June 2026.