Sarasota County Schools expands "CEO in Schools" program into second year to connect principals with local business leaders

Sarasota County Schools is entering the second year of its "CEO in Schools" program, which pairs business leaders with school principals for job-shadowing and partnership projects aimed at improving student career readiness, district officials said on a recent episode of the district's podcast and at a kickoff breakfast.

Dr. Harriet Moore, director of strategic engagement for Sarasota County Schools, said the program began after Superintendent Conor proposed the idea and the district consulted Hillsborough County's existing program for lessons learned. "The goal is to overcome the gaps between our education and our business leaders so we can really look at how we can impact student success," Dr. Moore said.

The program is structured to let CEOs and other business executives spend time in schools so they can see day-to-day operations and the leadership demands principals face. "Our principals are CEOs of their schools," Moore said, adding that the exchanges give both sides practical ideas to support students and staff.

Jamie, executive director of the local market for Bank of America, said participating business leaders often discover strengths they did not expect in students and schools. "It opened my eyes," Jamie said, praising students' confidence and the value of in-person interactions. Jamie described the program as "collaboration," arguing that companies should go into schools to better understand the pipeline of future employees.

Ryan Chase, a high-school principal who participated this year, pointed to concrete benefits: local businesses are hiring students from Sarasota-area programs, and some students earn industry certifications that can count toward school credit and workplace readiness. Chase cited Gecos Hospitality Group as an example of a local employer that hires students from the district's career and technical programs.

Dr. Moore said year-one participants were eager to return and that the district received positive feedback about actionable ideas and partnerships that emerged from the initial exchanges. She encouraged interested business leaders to contact the district's volunteer and community engagement office to learn how to participate; an email address and phone number were provided during the episode but portions of those contact details are garbled in the transcript.

Paranta closed the episode by thanking the Sarasota Education Foundation and the chambers of Sarasota, Venice, North Port and Englewood for partnering on the program rollout and noting the district's In Touch Community newsletter will include more information in its November issue.

The program is framed as a long-term effort to strengthen career pathways and reduce workforce-development gaps by aligning school-based training with employer needs; district officials say they plan to continue building the partnerships in year two.