JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A decision was made Tuesday on the replacement of Duval County Superintendent Diana Greene. At a special meeting, board members voted 5-2 to hire Dana Kriznar as the interim superintendent.
Board members Warren Jones, Cindy Pearson, Kelly Coker, Darryl Willie and Lori Hershey voted in favor of the decision while April Carney and Charlotte Joyce voted it down.
Kriznar will begin in June for a short time, not to exceed six months.
Tuesday's meeting of voting for an interim, comes after the school board voted to allow Greene to retire from her position earlier this month. Greene's last day is June 2. Greene was under increasing pressure because of a scandal at Douglas Anderson School of the Arts -- where longtime music teacher Jeffrey Clayton was arrested in March. Three other teachers were later removed from their positions.
Kriznar has served as the deputy superintendent for the school board since 2019. She has worked her way up in the ranks, starting as a secondary math teacher in 1986. She then worked in various roles in her career including assistant principal, vice principal and principal at the elementary level. On the district level, Kriznar has served as the executive director and assistant superintendent. Kriznar has also led two different Duval schools in improving their schools' grade from a 'C' to an 'A.'
“At my core, I am Duval proud and grateful for this opportunity to work with our principals, teachers, and staff in this capacity,” Kriznar said in a statement. “When it comes to student success and great schools, so much positive momentum has been generated in recent years, and I will be working with our school leaders to keep that momentum moving in a good direction.”