The Flagler County School Board is planning to appoint LaShakia Moore its interim superintendent from July 1 to at least the beginning of January.
Moore would fill in for Cathy Mittelstadt, who a 3-2 majority of the board fired last month when it decided not to renew her contract when it expires on June 30. Mittelstadt had elevated Moore from her position as principal at Rymfire Elementary, where she had won the district’s Principal of the Year award in 2019, to Director of Teaching and Learning for the district in 2021, and to assistant superintendent a year later. Former Superintendent Jim Tager appointed Moore principal at Rymfire in 2018 after her 10 years in teaching ranks.
Moore’s coming appointment was no longer a surprise. Some board members have been talking about it out of the public eye for months (as have members of the chamber of commerce, who were in part behind the push to fire Mittelstadt), and in recent weeks have been talking about it openly at board meetings. In part that was by necessity as it became clear that the board would have to have an interim no matter how fast it tried to conduct a search for a permanent replacement.
The surprise at a workshop today was the clear consensus for an idea floated by Board member Colleen Conklin, after the board had just heard of the nearly dozen superintendent positions open around Florida right now.
The Florida School Board Association is helping the Flagler board find a new superintendent. But it is also helping numerous other school board do the same. “thinking about that a little bit, that means we’re asking someone to really possibly put another district in a very bad position with leaving at the beginning of the school year,” Conklin said, suggesting a January start for the new superintendent instead, “so that if somebody is working with another school district, it’s a more appropriate place for them to break their working relationship with the district to make a move and leap instead of starting the school year and come October 1, leaving a school district. Because I can tell you personally, I would not want that individual. Right off the bat, I’d have an issue with that, because it would be concerning to me about starting a new position, a new school year, and then leaving another district in the lurch in October.”
Conklin was referring to Dusty Sims, the former Flagler Palm Coast High School principal who, the very day before the 2018-19 school year began, and just after welcoming 600 freshmen to FPC by attributing the school’s acronym to the words “focus, purpose, commitment,” left the school in a lurch by taking a job with the state Department of Education.
Tager, the superintendent at the time, scrambled to find a replacement. He found it in an administrator who’d retired three years earlier, and who lasted just 10 months, adding to the kind of turnover in that principalship that the district has been trying to stop since. Yet Sims was courted earlier this year by a school board member for the superintendent job in Flagler schools (he’s applying for such jobs around the state).
Conklin said there’s another reason to wait for a start time of January: it would give the school board association more time to focus on Flagler’s search, when–presumably–the rush to fill positions elsewhere will have eased.
Past that point, board members spoke of Moore as if she was their unquestioned interim, as if they had already had discussions about it. In fact, they each had one-on-one conversations with Moore, though the board at no point had discussed setting up those meeting: once the board spoke of Moore as a possibility last month, she contacted the board members to meet with them, setting up today’s discussion.
“You know, you’re superwoman, but it’s not fair to expect you to continue to juggle all the responsibilities of assistant superintendent in addition to the responsibilities as the superintendent,” Conklin said of Moore. “What we were talking about is the redistribution of some of those responsibilities in a temporary fashion with her team so that things don’t fall through the cracks. So I think she was going to work on that and kind of look at roles, responsibilities, things that she’s directly responsible for.”
“I’d love for LaShakia to know she’s got this semester,” Board Member Sally Hunt said. ” I personally have so much confidence in LaShakia that that timeline–I want to make sure we get the best leader,” she had said.
The approach had the support of board members Will Furry and Christy Chong. “I want us to take our time because I want this person to stay, for this to really be a decision that we all agree on,” Chong said.
Then Conklin suggested that the new superintendent contract be timed “off cycle” in such a way that it could diminish the risk that the contract would run out just as a new board comes in. She suggested a four- or five-year contract. There wasn’t as much agreement on that so much as agreement to further discuss the idea.
The delaying of the start date for the new superintendent until January, Kristy Gavin, the board attorney, said, “is going to make things a lot easier for FSBA and some of the heavy lifts that they’re asked to do because everyone wants that superintendent yesterday.” Yet another superintendent position came open just today, Gavin noted, when Duval County’s Diana Greene, one of the rare Black superintendents in the state–and Florida’s 2021 Superintendent of the Year–was forced into retirement by a divided board. She joins many other superintendents, Mittelstadt among them, who have been forced out by a sharp ideological reconfiguration of Florida’s school boards.
The attorney and Moore have not met yet to discuss the terms of her employment as interim. But her contract will define expectations, a salary, and a safety clause: Moore wants to ensure that she can return to her position as assistant superintendent when the interim term is over. The board will vote on those terms in June.
Concerned for Our Children says
And now SallyHunt wants to be enthusiastic about a superintendent she probably knows little about? We think very highly of Ms. Moore, but why couldn’t they give Cathy Mittelstadt a 6 month extension and save thousands of dollars on a search for a new superintendet? Wait, I think we know the answer to that! Pierre, are you still searching for the truth? I hope so!
Zebra says
DO NOT BE USED AND THEN ABUSED MISS MOORE. Let these people clean up their own mess. They’re nothing but a nest of snakes looking for the next meal. No matter how good of a job you do, it’s going to be “I’m white and I say so” logic when it’s time to get rid of you. It’s the same playbook every time these people have an agenda, bombard their target with an entire thesaurus of inaccurate antonyms to describe the candidate or employee’s history.
Here’s the Blueprint, same game, different face.
~ John Ehrlichman, Assistant to the President for Domestic Affairs under President Richard Nixon
“You want to know what this [war on drugs] was really all about? The Nixon campaign in 1968, and the Nixon White House after that, had two enemies: the antiwar left and black people. You understand what I’m saying?
We knew we couldn’t make it illegal to be either against the war or black, but by getting the public to associate the hippies with marijuana and blacks with heroin, and then criminalizing both heavily, we could disrupt those communities. We could arrest their leaders, raid their homes, break up their meetings, and vilify them night after night on the evening news.
Did we know we were lying about the drugs? Of course we did.”
~ John Ehrlichman, Assistant to the President for Domestic Affairs under President Richard Nixon
Deborah Coffey says
“I’d love for LaShakia to know she’s got this semester,” Board Member Sally Hunt said. ” I personally have so much confidence in LaShakia that that timeline–I want to make sure we get the best leader,” she had said.
You HAD the best leader, you Republican plant!
Justin Case says
“I want us to take our time because I want this person to stay, for this to really be a decision that we all agree on,” Chong said. Newsflash – you had a person who would have stayed, and had been doing a good job. Maybe you clowns should have renewed C.M. instead of doing sneaky things in the shadows. Chong needs to be voted out at the 1st opportunity. Everybody associated with moms for liberty needs to be cancelled. Sorry, not sorry. There is ZERO liberty in banning books. These people demand free speech, but only if the rest of us agree with them. Pick the best candidates, not just the one in your party.
Leila says
Love this young woman. Very impressed with her leadership skills.
Michael Cocchiola says
This whole sordid episode has the smell of illegal collusion, predetermined decisions, personal grudges and favoritism.
Extremist MAGAmouths are determined to take control of Flagler’s schools and force their culture wars into the curriculum.
Janet Sullivan says
And I’m really sad that Ms. Moore is now caught up in it.
Tackel Box says
Didn’t Ms. Mittelstadt elevate Ms. Moore into her current position?
This board did not recognize Ms. Mittelstadt’s wise move to have Ms. Moore working with her. You fired (yes fired—please stop saying we decided not to renew) Ms. Mittelstadt, only to recommend Ms. Moore to fill in until new Superintendent is chosen—couldn’t the board given Ms. Mittelstadt a 6 month extension?
This board has 3 people in place for 4 months—and they wonder why people are outraged by this most recent decision. Inexperience and poor leadership Furry, Chong and Hunt. I continue to shake my head. Best of luck Ms. Moore working with them. Hopefully, they realize their mistake and will give the needed support.
Now let’s go waste school dollars for another Superintend search! Don’t forget we are also competing now with at least 10-11 schools districts in Florida for a Superintend. I bet Dusty Sims comes no where near Flagler–sorry Sally Hunt and Paul Peacock
Still Outraged says
The newest board members have no idea what they are doing. What a trio of hypocrites!!! You had Mittlestadt for God’s sake!!! I love Mrs. Moore, but you had Mittlestadt! Moore’s time would come with a little more experience. Now we spend our money and time on a search that is not needed. Gone is some stability! Fools!!!
Geno brooks says
As her bother that has been watching her hard work since she began college on her quest to help as many kids and touch as many lives as possible. The number one priority for her is the education of the kids in Flagler County. I don’t care how much the search there is no one in my opinion that’s better for the job, and her willingness to step back into her role assistant superintendent speaks to her character, and her over all love for the education of the students of Flagler county. We so proud of you
Zebra says
Bruh! They don’t care how good of a job she can do. Do you honestly believe they are going to let her step back into her position??? They fired the person that hired her. Some people have yet to realize unfortunately, its not about the individual child, these politicians use the parents as foot soldiers to pedal whatever policy they want to enact.
Yeah, cheer your sister on but pick your battles, this one is a set up.
blerbfamilyfive says
Yep Ms. Moore will make an excellent superintendent until she does something that goes against the grain of the 3 stooges on the board. So Ms. Moore be very careful and think through your decision and good luck because you will need it.
Zuffalina says
And again, that mention of the Chamber of Commerce (and there’s that unmentioned conflict of interest with Theresa Rizzo). Explain to me why the Chamber should be a driving force regarding education policy and administration in Flagler County. (Oops, I forgot about that sales tax issue.)
The Chamber does not act for the benefit of Flagler schools and students. The Chamber has its own agenda and it has nothing to do with education.