Broward public schools name 5 additional candidates for superintendent job
FORT LAUDERDALE -- The list of candidates for the next superintendent of Broward County's public schools has now grown to include five additional candidates.
According to a written statement issued Thursday by the district, the additional applicants include two candidates from Florida and candidates from Oklahoma, Michigan and Louisiana. Two of those five were considered by officials to be "qualified for the position."
The school board voted in February to retain McPherson & Jacobson, L.L.C , an executive recruitment firm, to find and vet applicants after the panel opted to immediately part ways with controversial former schools chief Dr. Vicky Cartwright.
The firm presented a pool of 26 applicants to school board members, but none of those candidates apparently generated robust interest from the board.
That led to the board adopting a revised timeline that calls for selecting a new schools chief by June 15. The new timeline was adopted to allow for additional time to search for new applicants after the first batch did not generate sizable interest among the board.
According to the district, the five additional applicants were identified as:
- Dr. Scott Paul of Edmond, Oklahoma.
- John Dunnuck III of Palm City, Florida.
- Dr. Santarvis Brown of Miami Gardens.
- Rituparna, or Rita, Raichoudhuri of Kalamazoo, Michigan; and
- Dr. Sito Narcisse of Baton Rouge.
The district said Raichoudhuri and Narcisse were considered "qualified" for the role based on the job requirements.
The five additional candidates join four other leading candidates identified by the search firm who were identified as:
- Valerie Wanza, current acting chief of staff for Broward public schools.
- Peter Licata, who is an assistant superintendent in Palm Beach County.
- Jason Nault, an associate superintendent in a Chicago-area school district.
- Luis Solano Deputy Superintendent of Schools in Detroit.
Click here to see the candidates, full resumes and letters.