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Finalist Misty Mathis emphasizes systems, shared goals and community partnerships in Manatee superintendent interview
Summary
Dr. Misty Mathis, a finalist for Manatee County superintendent, told the school board on Aug. 18 that she would focus on systemizing instruction, expanding career-and-technical pathways, strengthening coaching and new-teacher supports, and building transparent, measurable district goals.
BRADENTON, Fla. — Dr. Misty Mathis, the other finalist in the Manatee County superintendent search, presented a systems-oriented plan on Aug. 18 that emphasizes districtwide instructional frameworks, coaching cycles, expanded career-and-technical education partnerships and public accountability.
Mathis opened her 90-minute public interview by saying, “Systems matter, people matter, and results matter,” and described steps she would take in the first 100 days to listen to stakeholders, audit district systems and set measurable priorities.
Why it matters: The board will collect community feedback before selecting a superintendent; the chosen leader will direct academic strategy, referendum and budget priorities and community partnerships across the county.
Mathis placed instructional coherence at the center of her pitch. She described leading an inclusive model at Yulee Primary School (pre-K–2) in which students with disabilities received instruction inside general-education classrooms while ESE staff and paraprofessionals provided consistent push-in supports. Mathis said the campus moved from among the district’s lowest performers to district-leading gains in a single year and that the model became a district best practice and was scaled in later roles.
She also described districtwide work in Nassau County to create a single instructional playbook grounded in Florida’s practice profiles, deploy coaching cycles (model, observe, feedback, reteach), require protected intervention time and expand the new-teacher pipeline through an extended mentoring program. Mathis credited those systems with raising and sustaining district performance, including a recent No. 1 state ranking for Nassau.
On career and technical education, Mathis described expanding CTE pathways, securing donated aircraft for aviation programs, adding telecommunications training in partnership with the county sheriff’s office and using local business and higher-education partners to create apprenticeships and industry-aligned credentials.
Mathis named two priority metrics she would watch: third-grade reading proficiency and graduation rate. She told the board that third-grade reading is a critical early indicator and that work from age 3 through K–3 must be aligned to change students’ long-term trajectories.
On governance and community engagement, Mathis recommended creating a superintendent’s advisory group that includes students, parents, business leaders and teachers; holding listening tours at schools and town halls across the county; and publishing a public district scorecard to track progress against measurable goals.
On finance and operations, she said the board should receive clear budget detail and that transparency builds public trust. Mathis described co-leading a voter-financed millage referendum and chairing an oversight committee that communicated outcomes and built community support.
Mathis closed by saying she would prioritize listening and then align resources to student-centered, measurable goals. The board will take public comments through Aug. 24 before its scheduled final deliberations.
