The status quo remains in effect at Broward County Public Schools.
The school board voted Tuesday by a 6-3 margin not to give the interim superintendent Dr. Vickie Cartwright the permanent position. Board member Nora Rupert, impressed with Cartwright’s performance after two months on the job, had asked the board to give her the job outright.
Cartwright was hired to replace Robert Runcie after he resigned, but the board promised the public a nationwide search for a permanent replacement would be conducted. So handing her the job now would be like moving the goalposts in the middle of the game, reasoned the majority of the board members.
“You don’t want to limit yourself, you want to see what was available, and their final thought was around being fair to Dr. Cartwright, who everyone felt was doing a good job,” said Dr. Rosalind Osgood, the school board chair, who said the national search was underway.
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The entire board joined Rupert in praising Cartwright’s job performance in glowing terms. Osgood, Rupert, and board member Donna Korn voted yes. Broward Teachers Union president Anna Fusco also supported the idea of making Cartwright the permanent superintendent.
“It was very uplifting to hear the very positive words that every single board member had to say about me,” Cartwright said after the meeting. “Very promising to see they are recognizing the work that we are doing in coordination with staff and community in order to drive the district forward in a positive direction, today was about process, it as nothing personal, it was not related to me.”
Next week, the board will consider a motion to allow Cartwright to apply for the permanent job. If it passes, she said she would certainly do just that.
