School district puts top administrator on leave. It won’t say why
The School District of Manatee County placed a top administrator on leave, announcing its decision with a vague news release on Monday.
Ron Ciranna, the deputy superintendent of business services and operations, will remain on leave until the district completes an internal investigation, according to the release, signed by district attorney Mitchell Teitelbaum and sent by district spokesman Mike Barber.
“While the investigation is ongoing, the school district cannot provide further comment,” the release states.
The statement did not explain why Ciranna is being questioned, or whether he is being paid during the investigation. Teitelbaum declined to comment further. Ciranna could not be reached for comment.
Barber declined to answer questions in a follow-up email, citing a section of Florida Statute 119.071.
“A complaint of misconduct filed with an agency against an agency employee and all information obtained pursuant to an investigation by the agency of the complaint of misconduct is confidential and exempt from” public records law, it states.
Such information is publicly available after the investigation is closed, according to the statute.
As deputy superintendent, Ciranna is responsible for oversight of human resources, risk management, benefits, information technology, construction services, food services, transportation, finance, payroll, purchasing and other matters, according to the district website.
He is a graduate of the the Thomas M. Cooley Law School in Riverview. After serving as superintendent of East Detroit Public Schools, and as an assistant superintendent in Polk and Pinellas counties, Ciranna joined Manatee’s schools in 2016, the website states.
Most recently, Ciranna oversaw the implementation of a school “guardian” program, which will soon put dozens of armed security officers in area schools. He also led the rollout of a software system that allows thousands of employees to request a leave of absence, access pay stubs, enroll in benefits, schedule vacations and manage their personal information.
The enterprise resource planning system, or ERP project, was millions of dollars over budget before it officially launched this summer.
This story was originally published August 6, 2018 at 3:54 PM.