TAMPA, Fla. — Hillsborough County School Board members are holding a workshop on Tuesday to draft an improvement plan for the Superintendent Addison Davis.

The workshop is in response to a survey where school administrators expressed concerns with the Superintendent’s job performance.

Superintendent Davis addressed their concerns.

He sent principals, assistant principals, and administrators an email, saying in part, “Your voices are clear-- I must honestly and genuinely respect the past, value the present, and leverage our shared commitment to engage each other as we make our school district one of the best in the nation."

In the letter, Davis also addressed other concerns that came up in the anonymous survey.

Administrators accused him of making drastic changes without consulting them first, and they said they didn’t like the way he communicates with them, mostly via email, which they said is one sided and doesn’t allow for them to provide any feedback.

Now, the Superintendent said he’ll form a Principal Advisory Council that will meet weekly to address those issues, however the budget is still a problem.

Over $80 million needs to be cut to comply with state law, and board members will discuss the budget on Tuesday, too.

READ SUPERINTENDENT DAVIS' LETTER BELOW: 

 

Principals, Assistant Principals, and Administrators,

I want to thank each of you for taking the time to provide honest feedback that will allow me to better understand what I can do to rebuild trust and strengthen relationships.  I must confess that Friday was one of the hardest days of my career, as the feedback and resulting Board member discussion reflected a person I do not know, and one I will dedicate the rest of my career to ensuring does not come up again. In my heart I am a principal first and foremost, so I never wanted to hear my colleagues asking for greater opportunities to connect and communicate with their superintendent, especially during a time when school and district leaders have done so much for our students, employees, and community at large under some of the worst conditions in our professional history.

In an effort to build the trust of every principal, assistant principal, and district administrator, I am committed to spending more time with each of you, to listen so that together we can identify the best things we offer to our students, the things we might strategically abandon or modify, and most importantly what we can do differently as a school district moving forward.

I understand that I represent a significant change for HCPS because I am new to all of you and to this community. It was always my goal to spend the majority of my time listening and learning under the best of conditions, let alone ones like we have faced in the past year. The challenges connecting with each other have resulted in unintended misunderstandings on my part that I stand ready to correct as we work to improve the overall health of Hillsborough County Public Schools, as well as help me build a relationship with you as a colleague.  Rest assured that while this represents the overarching goal of mine, I’ve always known that I needed your partnership in order to be successful. Your historical knowledge, unique lens, and deep community connections are valued and recognized, and I look forward to reestablishing our collective commitment towards helping our students and families who need us the most; collaboration must drive our efforts.

Your voices are clear - I must honestly and genuinely respect the past, value the present, and leverage our shared commitment to engage each other as we make our school district one of the best in the nation. Theodore Roosevelt said it most movingly, “Nobody cares how much you know, until they know how much you care.” I understand that better now than ever before. My commitment is to demonstrate greater care for each of you, your staff, and our community in the months ahead.

I am listening, and I am learning, and I will continue to grow.  This week, I will convene a Principal Advisory Council that I will meet with weekly to ensure that I am consistently receiving feedback and collectively working to improve our school district.  With this said, I look forward to new horizons and will need your help during this journey.

Please understand that I truly appreciate each of you and will redouble my efforts to always grow as an educational leader because of it.

Respectfully,  

Addison G. Davis

Superintendent of Schools

Hillsborough County Public Schools