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Voices about two Hillsborough superintendent candidates

School Board members were quiet Tuesday. Audience members were not.
 
Addison Davis and Harrison Peters are two of seven semifinalists for Hillsborough County Schools Superintendent. Both photos were obtained from school district websites. Davis is the superintendent in Clay, Peters is Chief of Schools in Hillsborough.
Addison Davis and Harrison Peters are two of seven semifinalists for Hillsborough County Schools Superintendent. Both photos were obtained from school district websites. Davis is the superintendent in Clay, Peters is Chief of Schools in Hillsborough. [ Clay County School District, Hillsborough County School District ]
Published Jan. 15, 2020|Updated Jan. 15, 2020

TAMPA — Seven educators from around the nation will interview Thursday for the position of Hillsborough County Schools Superintendent. They are, in alphabetical order: Alexa Cunningham, Addison Davis, Stephanie Elizalde, Don Haddad, Peter Licata, James McIntyre, and Harrison Peters.

Following reports of lobbying and recruiting outside the agreed-upon selection system, School Board members were quiet Tuesday on the topic of the superintendent search.

Audience speakers were not.

Community members were divided on the issue of whether the district should seek to name an African American leader — the only one in the group is Peters, now the district’s Chief of Schools — or whether the decision should be made regardless of race.

And there was continued fallout following last week’s attempts by some to disparage Davis, now the elected superintendent of Clay County, with an unflattering report about racial disparities in student discipline in Clay.

Nothing was said about any of the other candidates.

So many signed up to speak that the board limited each of them to two minutes. Here is some of what they said:

Jacob Tillotson: “I think the candidate from Clay County will not represent us in a way that will truly invest in our students and all students equally."

Susana Matta Valdivdieso: “We really need someone from Hillsborough County who knows us, knows our teachers, knows our students and our staff.” She referred the American Civil Liberties Union report on Clay County. “I think we need someone from the community who knows us to be the next superintendent.”

Joseph Robinson read from the NAACP platform on education. Robinson is second vice president of the organization’s Hillsborough branch.

Allen Green Sr: “Jeff Eakins and his team, from what I have experienced, have done a wonderful job and without relationships, you there is no way you can have an opportunity to see what a difference they are making today. Relationships are important. so for the community that we live in, it’s important that we get someone from here who can relate to the community and understand how important it is for the community to thrive.”

Charles Jackson: “My concern is, bringing in someone new who has no relationships, no connections, no idea of what going on, it tends to potentially set back the progress we’ve made. And that’s a major hit, especially to kids that live in the inner city. When a challenge comes up, they’re the ones that suffer the most and we can’t afford to let them take a step back.”

Darryl Ward: “Think about the inner city and the inner city kids and all the diversity that we have in our community.” Recalling his childhood and people who provided consistency, “for me that was a person of color. I’m sorry. It just was. The team that’s in place now, they did a great job and they’re doing a great job. I believe right now, for me, I believe in my heart that Mr. Harrison [Peters] is the number one candidate for the superintendent job.”

Marvin Knight: “I feel that the next person in should be someone to make sure that they can help the diverse community that’s growing in this city, has the true temperament and the true passion for the job. We don’t need to move outside this district. Listen to the people. You need someone who’s from the community, concerned about the community and I think that we have that right here in Hillsborough County, in this district.”

Bianca Goolsby handed out the ACLU report on the Hillsborough schools to rebut the ACLU report on Clay. “Hillsborough County has the lowest student to school psychologist (ratio) in the state. Hillsborough County has the highest number of students arrested in the state. So I keep hearing all this uproar about Candidate Four (Davis), hypocrisy. When I see interviews with black organizations that are designed to target Candidate Four, hypocrisy. The lives of the children are at stake. We need to place the focus back on our children, and not have selective outrage when it doesn’t fit a personal narrative. It is a sham. Time to shake things ups.”

Rev. Glenn Dames: “I grew up in Duval County, Clay County, alongside Mr. Addison Davis. And I don’t think any candidate in history has had to endure the vitriol, the level of vitriol that Mr. Davis has. He should not be penalized for his pigmentation. He should have a fair shot like all others. Growing up in Jacksonville, Florida, it was not unusual for Mr. Addison Davis to be the only Caucasian in his classroom. You can say, ‘I don’t think he’s the right fit for Hillsborough.’ What you cant do is say he’s racist. And I think that’s the unfair part.”

Makus Derek-White said he was one of the clergy invited to the New Years Eve gathering for Davis at Dames’ church. “And in this meeting, the potential superintendent solely expressed his vision for our district. But most importantly, for our students, our staff and our community. While this meeting was pure and focused, it was tainted by outside commentary from others about backdoor deals and kickbacks. And I’ve learned that usually those who perpetuate false narratives of wrongdoing on others are usually the ones who have tainted hands of guilt themselves.”

Pastor Elvis Piggot: “How awful it is to play politics on the back of our students when it comes to doing something as serious as this. Sadly, it’s interesting that we will say that and we didn’t go out and solicit all African American politicians to write letters on behalf of a superintendent inside. It’s not about black and white. It’s about all of our students in this district. Just because you are the same color as me don’t mean you’re best for me. I think we have to go back and ask some of these people that were speaking today, how many times have you been in the school?”

Robin Lockett: “I want a black superintendent. I’m just being upfront and honest about that. You guys are saying you want to do something different, but you’re putting the same lens, same white lens on a situation, right? We’ve ha that all these years, and we want to try something different.”

Thursday’s interview day is a School Board meeting, which means 30 minutes will be allotted for public comment, beginning at 9 p.m.

The board expects to shrink the list of semifinalists down to two or three finalists by the end of the day. A Meet and Greet event for the final three is planned at 6:45 p.m. at Rampello K-8 School, across the street from the school board headquarters on E Kennedy Boulevard. The public is invited to the Rampello gathering.