The Pinellas school district's top two administrators have called a truce - with a little help from a former Hillsborough school chief.

Superintendent Clayton Wilcox (left) and School Board attorney Jim Robinson (right) signed an agreement Monday crafted by former Hillsborough superintendent Earl Lennard that calls on them to "express their mutual respect of one another and commit to working together in a collaborative fashion."

The agreement, titled a "working protocol," also encourages them to meet at least weekly and to "make every effort" to be available to each other by phone on an as-needed basis.

Pinellas School Board members directed Wilcox and Robinson to meet with a facilitator when long-simmering differences threatened to boil over last month. While the agreement is not binding, School Board chairwoman Nancy Bostock is hopeful that it will put an end to the discord.

"I think they're both professionals and will make a renewed effort to work in a way that will benefit the school district," Bostock said.

To read the whole story, see tomorrow's St. Petersburg Times.

- Donna Winchester, Pinellas education reporter