Manatee School Board delays vote on superintendent’s contract extension
The School Board of Manatee County has delayed a vote on a possible extension of Superintendent Cynthia Saunders’ contract after calls for more due diligence and public input.
The board and the superintendent must reach an agreement by Dec. 31 if they want to extend Saunders’ contract, which currently runs through June 2021. The board voted 3-2 on Tuesday evening — with Scott Hopes and James Golden dissenting — to delay the conversation until next week.
Board members agreed to hold the meeting at 5 p.m. on Dec. 17. Meetings are held at the School Support Center, 215 Manatee Ave. W. in Bradenton, and every meeting is also broadcast live on Spectrum Channel 646, Frontier Channel 39 and www.mstv.us.
Charlie Kennedy, the board chair, suggested a delay at the start of Tuesday’s meeting, which included more than half a dozen other agenda items. He preferred to hold a special meeting next week, focusing solely on the superintendent’s contract.
Mary Foreman, the board’s newest member, followed with a motion to remove the contract discussion from Tuesday’s agenda.
“It did not get added to the agenda until Friday,” she said. “While you all may have had two years, I had four days to do a deep dive into some data and research. I hope this will be a lengthy discussion and well-considered and thoroughly discussed.”
Conversely, Hopes and Golden pointed to the approaching deadline of Dec. 31. There was no reason to delay such a vital issue, they argued.
Hopes, who requested that Saunders’ contract be added to Tuesday’s agenda, cited the pandemic and cautioned against the delay. He said COVID-19 cases would likely worsen and that holding another meeting was too risky.
“We have no business, in my opinion and from an epidemiological perspective, of having any more meetings this year unless they are absolutely necessary,” he said.
If the board failed to reach a decision on Tuesday, Hopes said, then a special meeting could still be held next week. His argument nearly convinced board member Gina Messenger, who was against the delay at first.
“I think I will be not supporting this motion at this time,” she said, just before a string of public comments that were in favor of the delay.
More than half a dozen people said the process was too rushed. Before making a decision on Saunders’ possible contract extension, the school board should provide more notice and gather input from teachers and Manatee residents, the speakers argued.
“What you’re doing to censor people, rush last-minute agenda items, is absolutely unacceptable,” speaker Andra Griffin said. “This is our county. This is our money. You guys are all held accountable for what you do.”
“It’s looking like we’re not taking a step back and listening to the public, listening to teachers, listening to what we have to say,” said Keenan Wooten, the athletic director at Lee Middle School.
With their comments in mind, Messenger said she would support the delay as a positive gesture to the public and to Foreman, who wanted more time for research before the vote.
Messenger cast the swing vote and Foreman’s motion passed.
“It will be clear to the public that it was done in an open and honest forum, so I voted in favor of that motion,” Messenger said at Tuesday’s meeting.
To review the board schedule and meeting agendas, visit manateeschools.net, navigate to the “Calendar” tab, choose a scheduled meeting and click the agenda link.
To submit a public comment in advance, send an email to public_comment@manateeschools.net.
This story was originally published December 8, 2020 at 8:20 PM.