Superintendent says Leon County Schools Foundation ED search open; MOU defines interview committee and recommendation process

The superintendent briefed the board on the hiring process for the Leon County Schools Foundation’s executive director position and said the role is advertised “open until filled.”

The process matters because the foundation’s executive director is employed by the district under a memorandum of understanding (MOU) but works closely with the foundation’s volunteer board; clarity about the search process and stakeholder access is important to governance and transparency.

“Every year we enter into an MOU with the Foundation for Leon County Schools. That person who is hired is actually an employee of Leon County Schools but they also report to the Foundation for Leon County Schools,” the superintendent said. The superintendent said the MOU requires a five-person interview committee — three foundation representatives who are not district employees and two district employees — to interview applicants, evaluate finalists (including a presentation), and make a recommendation to the superintendent.

The superintendent said the posting had closed and reopened; as of the afternoon after the meeting there were five applicants. She said the foundation’s interview committee will make a recommendation to the superintendent, who will then move forward with hiring in accordance with district personnel processes; the MOU, not the full board, governs the committee’s role. The superintendent said she would provide board members with the MOU and related materials for review.

Board members asked whether the full school board would see finalists before hire; the superintendent said the MOU does not require a public presentation to the full school board before a recommendation is made to the superintendent, but she agreed to share the MOU and bylaws so the board could review hiring parameters.