Key dates in Superintendent Rick Mills' tenure in Manatee

BRADENTON -- Important dates from the two years Rick Mills served as Manatee County School District superintendent.

March 20, 2013: Mills sworn in as Manatee County School District superintendent.

March 27, 2013: Mills announces the district will begin eliminating positions.

May 21, 2013: School district layoffs reach 282 positions.

June 3, 2013: The Florida Association of Area District Superintendents issues a report saying the Manatee County School District is using "ill-conceived" practices it can no longer afford.

June 29, 2013: The state approves the district fiscal turnaround plan.

July 19, 2013: Charges he improperly touched students and staff members at Manatee High School are filed against Roderick Frazier.

July 27, 2013: Manatee test scores, the first released since Mills was hired, drop in the face of harder tests.

Aug. 5, 2013: Bob Gagnon and Scott Martin are suspended in relation to the Frazier case. Debra Horne, Gregg Faller and Matthew Kane are suspend

ed shortly after.

Aug. 15, 2013: Almost 70 teachers are rehired.

Sept. 10, 2013: For the first time in four years, the district approves pay raises funded by the state.

Dec. 4, 2013: A state audit of the Manatee County School District finds operational finances could cost the financially embattled administration $7.2 million.

Dec. 16, 2013: Mills recommended Joe Kinnan be suspended after an investigation of the baseball team at Manatee High School.

April 9, 2014: The district receives an offer on land in front of Miller Elementary School known as McKelvey Park.

April 26, 2014: Manatee County School Board members rank Mills excellent in an annual evaluation.

April 29: The district implements a spending freeze.

May 2: District drops plans to sell McKelvey Park.

May 2: Audit findings mean Manatee Schools must cut $9.3 million from 2014-15 budget to repay mismanaged fund.

May 23: Student achievement continues with improved Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test scores.

May 27: The school board rejects Mills' request for a two-year extension, but grants him a one-year contract extension until 2017.

Aug. 11: Mills gave a state of the union address before the start of the school year, in which he announced the district met its state-mandated reserve fund for the first time in four years.

Sept. 10: The school board approved a $627.5 million budget for the 2014-15 year.

Sept. 17: The district announces unarmed private security officers will start in district elementary schools until the attorney general issues a ruling.

Sept. 25: The school board approved pay raises the second year in a row for the district employee increases.

Oct. 1: Mills cancels the security contract after a Sunshine lawsuit is filed.

Nov. 25: The State Attorney General OKs the district plan to have armed, private security officers in elementary schools.

Dec. 10: Troy Pumphrey threatens the district with a lawsuit after board member Dave Miner calls for his termination saying Pumphrey lied on his resume.

Feb. 14: Mills asks the school board not to extend his contract to 2018.

Feb. 28: The district announces another spending freeze until the end of the fiscal year.

March 22: The superintendent reflect on two years in the district and says he wants to be in Manatee for the long haul.

April 9: Mills and other district officials hold a press conference to talk about long-term financial needs.

April 24: An external investigation finds Pumphrey should have been truthful in his application with the district, but he should be rehired because of bad past practices in the Human Resource Department.

April 27: Mills announces he plans to retire at the end of July.

Source: Bradenton Herald archives

This story was originally published April 28, 2015 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Key dates in Superintendent Rick Mills' tenure in Manatee."