Former Clay County schools Superintendent Addison Davis seemingly scuttled rumors of his consideration as Duval County’s next superintendent Tuesday by becoming a partner in a national consulting firm.
Davis, who resigned last month from the top post in Hillsborough County’s school district, will take over a role in the education division of Tampa-based Strategos Group, which has offices in Washington and five states advising clients in education, healthcare and technology.
The job is “an opportunity to work alongside an accomplished team of innovative professionals … who are revolutionizing consulting practices,” Davis said in written comments when his new position was announced.
“I am excited to be surrounded by forward-thinking leaders who share a common desire to create a positive change in education,” he said.
Davis worked 18 years in Duval schools, becoming chief of schools before landing terms as elected superintendent in Clay and appointed superintendent in Hillsborough, the country’s seventh-largest school district. Duval County’s school system is the country’s 20th largest.
Davis raised eyebrows when he resigned just as Duval’s superintendent search was beginning, mentioning “the opportunity to return to Northeast Florida where my entire family resides.” He was quoted by the Tampa Bay Times saying he wasn’t applying for the Duval job but “did not discount the idea that someone might offer it to him.”
That prospect troubled some observers who expressed concern that the Duval superintendent’s job might be decided without a serious search for the best candidate.
“It seems that the School Board has already predetermined its next leader, rendering this process a mere formality,” Jacksonville NAACP President Isaiah Rumlin wrote to School Board members last month, asking members to use “the same rigorous procedures used in the appointment of the previous superintendent,” Diana Greene.
Greene retired last month and her former deputy, Dana Kriznar, is contracted to be superintendent for up to six months.
The School Board has hired the Florida School Boards Association to handle the successor and last week talked with association representatives about timing for a search to finish by late in the year.