Board to choose interviews for superintendent

It's now up to Hernando County School Board members to decide who will be interviewed for the superintendent position by selecting from a pool of nine candidates.

During the 2 p.m. workshop at the board office, board members will consider who of the remaining applicants will be interviewed during public meetings in January.

School district Attorney Paul Carland II said he would not recommend how many candidates should be considered out of the nine. He said board members would need to make that determination for themselves.

"They'll also have to decide when in January they want to interview the candidates and schedule a reception so the public can meet the candidates," Carland said.

The district received 29 applications, of which a committee reviewed and eliminated the other 20.

Those who remain include:

• Interim Superintendent Sonya Jackson, who has a master's degree in education and stepped into the interim superintendent role following former superintendent Wayne Alexander's resignation in September. Before that, she was assistant superintendent of the district. She also served as executive director of school services. She also has served as dean of students.

• Hernando High School Principal Kenneth Pritz, who has a doctorate in education, was executive director of facility and support operations in Brooksville until last year when he took over the Hernando High School principal position.

• Gregory Adkins, chief negotiator and executive leader of the Division of Human Resources for Lee County School District. He lives in Fort Myers.

• Arnold Spadafora has lived in San Antonio since his retirement in 2008. He most recently served as associate superintendent of schools in Schenectady, N.Y.

• John R. Phillips most recently was director of university and school district partnerships at Claflin University in Orangeburg, S.C. He left that post in June.

• S. Jayne Risen Morgenthal was most recently superintendent of the Elizabeth Public School District in Elizabethtown, Ky.

• Bryan Blavatt, a retired superintendent from Union, Ky., who retired recently with 25 years of school administrative experience.

• I.V. Foster Jr., current Superintendent of Prairie-Hills Elementary School District 144 in Hazel Crest, Ill.

• Rose Terri McSweeney, a deputy superintendent with Shoreham Wading River Central School District. He lives in Huntington, New York.

Board members are expected to interview candidates during the second week of January and select a final candidate during the Jan. 19 board meeting.