It’s official.
The Polk County School District has a new Superintendent.
The school board voted unanimously Tuesday evening to approve a contract with Jacqueline "Jackie" Byrd, who has served as interim superintendent since Feb. 23.
She will take on the role of superintendent for a trial period lasting through the 2016-17 school year and earn an annual salary of $225,000.
An educator for more than 25 years, Byrd has served as a teacher and school principal, and is a former Chief of Schools for Duval County. She also was responsible for overseeing elementary turnaround schools in Duval.
Byrd has a bachelor’s degree in education from the University of North Florida and a master’s in educational leadership from Jacksonville University. She joined Polk County Public Schools as Deputy Superintendent in 2013.
Former school superintendent, Kathryn LeRoy, resigned in February despite being cleared of any wrongdoing after an internal investigation into allegations of sexual harassment, misconduct, and mismanagement. School board officials in voting to accept LeRoy's resignation on Feb. 15 said she would have been fired had she not chosen to resign.