DUVAL COUNTY, Fla. — In a unanimous vote, Duval County Public Schools selected Christopher Bernier as its next superintendent Thursday morning.
After a year-long search, the school district selected Bernier out of a pool of 21 applicants with a 7-0 vote. Daniel Smith and Bernier were the only two finalists vowing for the position.
Bernier was superintendent of Lee County Schools for two years. DCPS parents have been sharing their concerns online about his name being involved in two federal discrimination lawsuits after a high school baseball coach in the district sent out a racist text to players and coaches in the district.
During a conference call with reporters Thursday afternoon, Bernier said he couldn’t speak directly about those lawsuits due to pending litigation. Bernier was the superintendent at the school district at the time of the incidents in question but other people were involved in the racists text messages mentioned in the lawsuits.
The Duval School Board said that they did their due diligence related to this matter and members of the board said that they called school board members in Lee County on top of background checks intro Bernier’s past.
When asked what his message is to parents who may be concerned that their new superintendent is named in federal lawsuits, Bernier said that he is a man of character and that he wants to ensure parents that everyone within Duval Schools will be held to a high standard.
"The one non-negotiable I have is my integrity,” said Bernier, “and I will behave in a manner that shows a disciplined individual who holds people and himself to very high standards. And that's a critical component to send a very clear message of what's expected of the superintendent, the staff and the members of this Team Duval that have the responsibility of educating our children."
After voting Bernier in as the new superintendent, Duval School Board Chairman Darryl Willie said that the board has faith in the type of person Bernier is.
"We called community members, we called board members from their areas to ensure what we were hearing," Willie said.
Duval County Schools is facing budget shortfalls, issues with teacher conduct and political pressures related to education, but School Board member Warren Jones said Bernier is uniquely qualified to lead the district.
"He has been able to, in his previous job, to navigate a very diverse community, whether it's politically, socially, economically, I think he's the right person to do that at this time," Jones said.
DCPS told First Coast News on Wednesday: "It is common for superintendents to be named in lawsuits involving their districts."
"One of the most complicated issues I've dealt with is going to potentially be an ESPN story, a '30 for 30,' regarding a baseball team that went through some some racial strife," Bernier said. "But I appreciate the investment of time both formally, informally with the principal."
In the special school board meeting Thursday where the announcement of the selection was made, board members shared how they did their research on candidates: calling parents and staff of the past schools they worked for.
Willie said Smith who is from Virginia, had an impressive resume.
Still, many board members agreed with Board Member Kelly Coker when she said, “The Florida way of work is so different. I just don’t know if we have the time and space to build an opportunity for a visionary leader,” when discussing how Smith would help DCPS in their current state.
Board members agreed what made Bernier stand out was how he rebuilt Lee County, a district with similar percentages of students who are economically disadvantaged to Duval.
“The economically disadvantaged percentage in Lee county is 77% and in Duval is 72%” compared to Loudon county where the percentage was 24%," explained DCPS School Board Vice Chair Charlotte Joyce.
And after a hurricane, board members also applauded Bernier's ability in how he not only got students and staff back to normal, but added that he opened opportunities for minority student groups who may not have had access to healthcare or were learning English.
"His ability rebuild his school district after any disaster," is what board member, Lori Hershey, said in her reasoning for voting for Bernier.
Before board members shared their votes, a dozen parents and educators held the floor, endorsing why they wanted Bernier to lead the school district, one reason being that he's already worked in Florida schools.
"Bernier also understands how to deal with budgetary concerns which is paramount to our current state," one attendee of the meeting said. "He encountered similar budgetary issues in Lee County."
Bernier said he hopes to foster a positive learning environment for every student.
"Our students and our kids are our primary responsibility and there are great things going on in Duval," said Bernier.
Now that Bernier has accepted the job, what comes next is the school board hashing out details in his contract. The school board said that the hope is for Bernier to begin as the superintendent on July 1st, but also hopes that he will be available to speak with community members before that time.