More than two dozen people applied to become the next superintendent of Broward County Public Schools — even as some officials raised concerns that turmoil within the state's second-largest district would drive away candidates.
The district’s interim leader, Earlean Smiley, is not on the list of 26 applicants. But a top BCPS administrator is — Valerie Wanza, who has spent three decades in the district, according to announcement issued Friday by BCPS.
Wanza currently works as the acting chief of staff for BCPS, and briefly served as the task-assigned superintendent for about a week after Vickie Cartwright stepped down in February.
Cartwright and the school board agreed to a mutual separation agreement following months of uncertainty, criticism of her management style and pressure from allies of Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis.
According to her resume, Wanza started out in the district as a classroom teacher at Dillard High School, then worked as an administrator at an alternative high school and a K-12 disciplinary center, before becoming a district supervisor.
Other applicants include leaders from school districts in California, Texas, Illinois and Michigan, as well as two administrators in the School District of Palm Beach County — Peter Licata and Keith Oswald. Both had previously applied for the job during an earlier search process, which ultimately led to the hiring of Cartwright.
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Most of the candidates come from a traditional public school background, with experience as teachers, principals, chief operating officers and other top leadership roles.
The group also includes some private sector consultants, a U.S Foreign Service officer and at least one applicant with a decade of experience in the U.S. military. According to their resumes, 14 of the applicants hold a doctorate and many claim South Florida ties.
Years of turmoil and scrutiny
With 254,000 students and 27,000 employees, BCPS is the nation's sixth largest school system in the nation. Broward students hail from 120 different countries and speak nearly 120 languages, and more than half of them qualify for free and reduced-price meals. Taking charge of BCPS would be a challenge for even seasoned leaders.
Broward has also gone through years of turmoil and scrutiny, following the massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in 2018 and the leadership upheaval that followed.
The district has also been under pressure from DeSantis, who removed four school board members from office in August, and continues to centralize his power over local and state education policy.
The Broward school board is scheduled to hold a workshop on May 2 to review the applications and pick the finalists, who are slated to sit down for meetings with community stakeholders and interviews with board members on May 15.
According to a district timeline, board members could vote on the next superintendent as soon as May 16.
