Superintendent Shopping For New England Job

Hernando County School Superintendent Wayne Alexander is looking for jobs in New England and already is a semifinalist for a superintendent post in Massachusetts.
However, Alexander is not applying because he wants to leave Hernando County, according to a letter he delivered to school board members Friday notifying them of his search and the circumstances that prompted it.
Rather, Alexander is applying for jobs in the Connecticut area to get the courts there to allow his new wife Jennifer and her two young children, who live in that state, to move to Florida despite the protests of Jennifer's ex-husband, Alexander explained in the letter.
The goal: Show the court that Alexander is making the effort to find a job in the area but also make the case that his position here is "highly specialized" and finding a similar post of "equal importance is not possible." It's a strategy recommended by the Alexanders' attorney, he wrote.
The couple married last summer. Jennifer, a kindergarten teacher, has been applying for jobs in Pasco and Citrus counties. She and her children - Jace, 8, and 6-year-old Katie - planned to move to Hernando County in August.
But Jennifer's ex-husband is fighting the move and the dispute has ended up in court.
"Since that time, we have spent a great deal of time and money in legal fees to have the Courts allow us to have the children relocate," Alexander wrote, describing the situation as a "brick wall (that) has been placed in front of us."
"It is now our time to fight to live and work where we want to in the best interests of our family," he wrote.
If Alexander is offered a job in the area, the couple plans to tell the court that "nothing compares to my current position or current community and all that it has to offer our family."
Alexander may soon be in that position. He is one of four semifinalists for the superintendent post in Framingham, Mass.
Alexander was one of nearly 30 applicants for the job to lead the district of about 8,000 students, said Ann Greenberg, an administrative assistant for Framingham's school board. A committee of teachers, parents and other school officials narrowed the field to four and plan to further whittle the candidates after a round of interviews slated for Jan. 10, Greenberg said.
Alexander, who is in Connecticut for the holidays, did not immediately return a call to his cell phone Monday. But the last part of the letter included what he called "my response to the press."
"I hope that the community will respect and honor the sensitivity of this matter and my family's need for privacy," he wrote.
Alexander was hired in April 2007 and last worked as a school administrator in New London, Conn.
He is currently paid $141,362. The Framingham job would pay between $190,000 and $215,000, according to the Framingham Public Schools Web site.
Hernando County school board members reached Monday all offered similar sentiments: They don't want to see Alexander go, but family must be a priority.
"I've always said people have to do what's best for their families. This is what's best for him and his family," board Chairwoman Dianne Bonfield said.
"He has a lot of things going here he wants to finish," board member Sandra Nicholson said. "I just hope they work something out so he can stay."
If not, then the school district is back to where it was just two years ago.
"The difficulty for the board is to find someone who has equal abilities or better," board member James Yant said.