TAMPA, Fla. — The Hillsborough County School Board has narrowed down its list of candidates for the position of Superintendent to three.
- Candidate chosen will succeed Jeff Eakins, who is retiring
- Final interviews will be conducted Tuesday, January 21
- More Hillsborough County stories
The three finalists are Clay County School Superintendent Addison Davis; Don Haddad, Superintendent of the St. Vrain Valley School District in Colorado; and Peter Licata, Regional School Superintendent in Palm Beach County.
All three have administrative experience and their own ideas about how to lead the district. They shared some of those ideas during a public meet-and-greet Thursday evening.
Davis said part of his focus would be on helping underachieving schools perform better.
(L to R) Addison Davis, Clay County School Superintendent; Don Haddad, Superintendent of the St. Vrain Valley School District in Colorado; and Peter Licata, Regional School Superintendent in Palm Beach County.
"We need to make bold, unapologetic decisions and use finances and resources to get the necessary resources to our schools and build the capacity of our leaders and greatly empower and support our teachers every day," he said.
Haddad, meanwhile, talked about funding and public-private partnerships.
"There are ways you can leverage those resources to some things," he explained. "The other thing I'm really big on is connections with the business community and there are many businesses and corporations here, so I'd like to strengthen those."
Licata says he wants to close what he calls an "equity gap."
"'Equity' means looking at your budget and saying, 'This school needs more to get the kids to a certain level. It needs more focused instruction, it needs some of our strongest teachers.' It gets done in the classroom by the teachers," he said.
They all talked about the importance of preparing students for the future.
"I'm not here for politics," Davis said. "I'm not here about adults. I'm here to work every single day on behalf of one learner times 220,000."
"I'm just a staunch advocate for public education. I think it's such a critically important thing," said Haddad.
"There's a ton of great things in Hillsborough County. You research it. There's some phenomenal things. Don't change that. Let's change what's not good," said Licata.
The school board will conducting final interviews with the candidates on Tuesday, January 21, and is expected to make a decision after that.
The new superintendent will replace Jeff Eakins, who is retiring in June.
Hillsborough County Public Schools is the seventh largest school district in the country and the largest employer in Hillsborough County.