Broward School Board upholds vote to fire Superintendent Dr. Vickie Cartwright
FORT LAUDERDALE - A major shake-up at Broward County Public Schools.
During a meeting on Tuesday, the Broward County School Board voted to uphold their Monday decision to oust Superintendent Dr. Vickie Cartwright after the legality of the vote was called into question.
"I was shocked and surprise by the conversation last night, especially when we had previously had the conversation,\. I knew what the expectation were," said Superintendent Cartwright on Tuesday about a previous decision to give her 90 days to show progress. But that's not going to happen anymore.
Board member Debbi Hixon made a motion to rescind the vote, citing the state's Sunshine Law which deals with transparency.
After conferring with legal counsel and hearing public comment, the board voted against the motion.
Board Chair Torey Alston then recommended Dr. Earlean Smiley to take on the role as interim superintendent.
The School Board is meeting to appoint an interim superintendent after voting 5-4 Monday night to oust the embattled Cartwright.
The vote to terminate Cartwright came after members discussed audits that were critical of two district vendors. It was then that School Board member Daniel Foganholi made the surprise motion about 9 p.m.
"There are some great people who work for this organization, but toxic behavior continues to happen," Foganholi said in making the motion. "This is about accountability."
When Foganholi, a DeSantis appointee, was asked about his motion to remove Dr. Cartwright despite the 90-day grace period, he said, "A lot of people use the example: You give a child 90 days to improve and you find out he cheated again. This is part of the toxic culture I wanted to address."
The vote was split between the five members appointed by Governor Ron DeSantis; Foganholi, Ryan Reiter, Kevin Tynan, Manuel "Nandy" Serrano and Torey Alston, and the four elected members; Lori Alhadeff, Debbi Hixon, Sarah Leonardi and Nora Rupert who voted against it.
"This action is impulsive and inappropriate at this moment, and I cannot support this," Leonardi said.
Four of the board members were appointed by DeSantis after a grand jury report identified mismanagement and possible corruption. The fifth member, Foganholi, was appointed by DeSantis to fill the seat vacated by Dr. Rosalind Osgood who is now a state senator.
The final and deciding vote went to board member Tynan. There was a long awkward pause, then Tynan said he was taking his time because he didn't realize he'd be the deciding vote. A few moments later, he voted to fire Cartwright.
Last month, the School Board met to consider Cartwright's future.
During the late October meeting, there was an item on the agenda that listed 15 criticisms of the superintendent, questioning her leadership, judgment, and decision-making.
At that time, the board decided not to fire her. She faced a reprimand and was tasked with making a checklist of issues she needed to address and was supposed to present that list to the board in 90 days.
One member who voted against firing Cartwright on Monday night was Lori Alhadeff who said she had no idea this was going to happen.
"I'm actually very flabbergasted that this just happened. Shocking. I had no idea. It just kind of came out of nowhere. We were talking about the 90 days and giving Dr. Cartwright the opportunity to go through on her checklist up to the 90 days and then the vote just happened," she said.
After the vote, School Board Chair Alston issued a statement that read in part:
"Dr. Vickie Cartwright is a wonderful individual, but leading the nation's sixth-largest school district requires a hands-on leader and someone that will make real change. Based on recent systemic issues, the Board decided to go in a different direction. The Board thanks Dr. Cartwright for her service to Broward County. It's time for reform and healing, and we will do that with a seasoned educator who will lead our District, make tough decisions and engage with all stakeholders."
Alhadeff questioned the timing of the vote.
"You know the district right now, we're in such turmoil. And we're in the middle of the school year and we have new school board members coming on next week and I just didn't feel that this was the timing. You know we said that we were going to give her a chance and we should've given her the 90 days," said Alhadeff.
The vote came a week before four of the five DeSantis appointees are due to be replaced by the newly elected members.
In upholding their vote, the School Board will have to give Cartwright 60 days' notice and a written notice before she is terminated.
It's possible that the new School Board could vote to rescind the termination and rehire her.
