Vickie Cartwright’s saga as superintendent of Broward County Public Schools—and her months-long battle with its school board—appears to have come to an end with a $365,000 separation agreement.
Cartwright grabbed national headlines during the height of the COVID pandemic for imposing a mask mandate despite Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ threat to strip funding from districts that did not let parents decide on what pandemic precautions would be taken by their children.
Cartwright and the school board this week reached the separation agreement that includes severance pay, unused vacation and sick time, and having the outgoing superintendent serve as an off-site consultant to the district for two months, Local10.com reported. Her lawyers said they already plan to contest a clause in the agreement that prohibits Cartwright from criticizing the school board as she seeks a superintendent’s post elsewhere, Local10.com added.
Cartwright became the full-time superintendent in Feb. 2022 after having stepped in as interim to replace Robert Runcie, who had resigned and was later charged with lying to a state grand jury investigating mismanagement in the district.
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Cartwright was initially terminated in November in a surprise move by board members who had been appointed by DeSantis. She was reinstated just about a month later. The school board in December agreed to revisit Cartwright’s performance at the end of January when she was due to complete an improvement plan for the district.
More trouble at the top
The Toppenish School District in rural Washington has placed its superintendent, John M. Cerna, on non-disciplinary leave pending an investigation. Cerna, who has worked for the district since 1979, has been facing controversies since last January when the district fired his son and daughter-in-law from their high school jobs after an investigation “found it likely that the couple had engaged in inappropriate activity involving students, alcohol and firearms,” according to the Yakima Herald-Republic.
A November audit faulted Cerna and the school board over ongoing financial dealings and lack of oversight, the Herald-Republic reported in an article that lays out the issues in detail. The district’s assistant superintendent, Shawn Myers, is now serving as the interim.
More superintendent shifts
Leaders taking new positions include Mathis A. Calvin III, who next month will take the reins as superintendent of the Lockport City School District in New York. Calvin will leave his post as superintendent of the Oswego City School District on March 18. In Ohio, Deborah Houser will become the first female superintendent of the 170-year-old Middletown City School District. Houser, who has been serving as assistant superintendent, begins her new role on March 1.
In other developments:
- Richard Montgomery has been named the next superintendent of Albia Community Schools in Iowa. He will start the position this summer.
- Superintendent Loretta L. Radulic will retire from Roxbury Township Public Schools in New Jersey on June 30.
- Mark Raiff will retire as the superintendent of the Olentangy Local School District in Ohio at the end of the school year.
