St. Johns school board finalizes superintendent search criteria, sets salary range and timeline

The St. Johns County School Board on a consensus vote Monday approved a revised set of qualifications and a timeline to hire the district's next superintendent, following an executive summary of input from 3,478 completed community surveys and multiple focus groups.

Why it matters: The board’s decisions shape the recruitment, advertisement and interview process for the chief executive of a district with about 52,000 students and roughly 6,300 employees. The board’s stated priorities — instructional leadership, consistent policy implementation, and equitable resource allocation — will guide candidate screening, interview questions and final contract negotiations.

Board and consultant presentation: Dr. Jack Pace of the Florida School Boards Association (FSBA) and FSBA colleagues summarized results from two community forums, five focus groups and the online survey. Dr. Pace said the data repeatedly cited the district’s strengths — high student achievement, diverse learning programs, visible leadership and committed staff — and recurring challenges, including rapid enrollment growth, staffing and retention, transportation and equitable allocation of resources.

“The community values fiscal responsibility and expects accountability,” Dr. Pace said during the workshop. Andrea Messina, chief executive officer of the FSBA, and Dr. Rice (FSBA strategic operations manager) participated remotely and answered process questions about advertising, application review and background checks.

Key changes and clarifications: The board reached consensus to amend minimum experience requirements and the application package. The main changes the board agreed to are: - Minimum experience: change the minimum required years to a 6–8 year range (board consensus) and add a preferred qualification explicitly listing “10 years of increasingly responsible educational administrative leadership experience.” - Contract length: a three-year contract was recommended and supported by the board as the contractual term to be used in recruitment materials. - Salary range: the board increased the top of the proposed range after discussion and agreed to advertise a starting base range of $170,000 to $230,000.

Application and screening process: FSBA detailed the planned application and public posting process. Applications will open Monday, March 3, and the advertised submission deadline is midnight on March 28. Applicants must submit a resume with a signed cover letter, up to three professional recommendation letters (applicants asked to select three if more are submitted), documentation of certifications, and transcripts showing their highest degree. FSBA staff will redact personal identifiers before posting applications to the publicly accessible superintendent-search portal.

Semifinalist and finalist steps: The board will select semifinalists at the April 10 board meeting. Semifinalists will respond to two written questions and three video questions; FSBA will post those responses on the portal and accept public feedback via QR codes and other channels. Background checks on semifinalists will be run and shared with the board. The board scheduled finalist interviews the week of May 12, with candidates arriving May 12 and group interviews and community meet-and-greets on May 13; individual board interviews are planned for the following day(s). The FSBA team explained the logistics: each finalist will be hosted for school tours, and the public will be invited to meet finalists at organized meet-and-greet events.

Community inclusion and public comment: Board members and FSBA staff described how community input was collected (forums, focus groups and the online survey) and how it will be shared with board members during the semifinalist and finalist stages. The board and FSBA emphasized that applications are public records under Florida law and will appear on the FSBA portal; FSBA representatives advised applicants of that requirement during the workshop.

Next steps: FSBA will post the finalized qualities-and-qualifications document, the advertisement and the portal materials after the board’s consensus; the advertisement venues and paid postings were discussed, with an estimated advertising cost of about $2,459 for paid national and state outlets. Board staff were instructed to cooperate with FSBA to publish the ad Monday, March 3. The board will reconvene on April 10 to select semifinalists.

Quotes: “We had 3,478 respondents fully complete the survey,” Dr. Pace said, describing the volume of data the consultants used to shape the draft qualities document. Andrea Messina said FSBA would post applicant materials on the portal and prepare summaries of community feedback for the board during semifinalist and finalist stages.

What was not decided: The board did not record a formal roll-call vote on the qualifications text, advertising vendors or the exact number of semifinalists to advance (FSBA recommended casting a wide net). Contract particulars — including incentives, relocation allowance or final base salary — were left for later negotiation and will be handled by board-appointed negotiators and district staff.

Ending: FSBA and district staff will publish the finalized recruitment materials and open the application portal as scheduled. The board expects to review semifinalist materials on April 10 and to host finalist interviews in mid-May.