The head honcho of Broward County School is retiring amid mounting pressure from disgruntled teachers and a potential scandal involving the district's spending.
Superintendent Jim Notter announced his retirement at the end of a school board budget workshop Tuesday afternoon, surprising most in attendance.
"It's my full intent to retire as of June 30, 2011," he said matter of factly.
Notter, who became ther official superintendent in 2007, had said previously that he would weather the storm of corruption and mismanagement accusations and vowed not to quit. It's unclear what has changed the education veteran's mind.
Notter told NBC Miami he's retiring for family reasons.
“Most important, one, is my family,” he said. “Secondly, I'll be 65 in August. I take a look at four beautiful grandchildren, two great daughters, a super wife. You know, I better spend some of that 65 to 70 with them. Because I'm not too sure how long I can run around the house after them.”
The news was met with elation by the Broward Teachers Union, who immediately released a statement.
"During Notter's tenure as superintendent, employee morale and labor relations has reached an all-time low, for which he has continually blamed everyone except himself including the economy and state political process," wrote BTU President Pat Santeramo. ""By resigning, Superintendent Notter has taken the most important step possible in restoring the public's trust in our school system.
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"Superintendent Jim Notter's long and distinguished career in education has ended on a bad note."
The turning point for Notter may have been a statewide grand jury investigation in how the school system is run.
The report basically called Notter a lame duck administrator who allowed corruption to permiate the system to the point where the grand jury would recommend the entire board be overhauled.
Notter preferred to focus on the positive of his time in Broward.
“I feel fantastic about my tenure here, just take a look at our kids, how well they're doing,” he said, mentioning the short tenure that is common among his peers. "And when you take a superintendent in an urban school district, you already know you're counting your days down instead of up. Take a look at the national data, it's not rocket science. So you always have Plan B in your pocket."
