Superintendent Resigns From Post

School Superintendent Wayne Alexander has tendered his resignation, citing the need to return to Connecticut to be with his family.

The resignation would be effective July 1.

"I love this job, I love this county, but I love my wife and my kids a lot more," Alexander said in announcing the move at the end of the school board meeting Tuesday night.

Alexander told the school board that by hiring him in the summer of 2007, it gave him what he had hoped for: his first superintendent job, and in Florida.

He said he was proud of accomplishments the district has made in the past year - from earning an A as a district to slashing millions of dollars from the budget without cutting a single job.

Now, however, "My family needs are my top priority and are calling me back to New England," he said.

The announcement, which comes less than two years after Alexander arrived here, wasn't entirely surprising.

Alexander notified the board in December that he was shopping for jobs in New England. He said then that he wanted to stay in Hernando and bring his new wife and her two children here. They still live in Connecticut and the plan to move to Florida sparked a visitation dispute with her former husband.

Alexander, who last month made it to the semi-finalist round of candidates for a superintendent job in Massachusetts, had planned to try to convince the courts that he couldn't do better than his current post. That effort now seems unlikely to be successful, Alexander said Wednesday.

"It was just at a point where there were tremendous obstacles in trying to get the family out of the state, and it was in their best interest (for me) to relocate," he said.

Alexander said he doesn't have any other job offers lined up but made the decision to tender his resignation now to give the district time to search for his successor.

"I felt that five months was sufficient to find a replacement," he said.

There is a clause in his contract, however, that requires Alexander to reach a mutual agreement with the school board on a final date. Without such an agreement, the board could require Alexander to pay for the cost of the search for his replacement. The search that ended up securing Alexander cost more than $14,000.

The board agreed to have a special meeting at 1 p.m. Tuesday to discuss the superintendent's amended contract and the strategy to search for his replacement.

Board members have expressed support for Alexander and an understanding of his situation. They reiterated those sentiments Tuesday night.

"I think what you have brought to this community is exactly what this community needed," board member Sandra Nicholson said. "With your leadership it's been shown to a lot of people we can do a better job."

Nicholson hinted at the grumbling that Alexander caused with some of his changes, including a shake-up of administrative positions at schools.

"You have had a knack for finding the right person for the right position," she said. "Sometimes that's met with resistance, and some people weren't happy about it. But once they get used to it, maybe they realize the whole school or the whole district is better off."

Board member Pat Fagan said he supported Alexander's June 30 end date. Member John Sweeney indicated he would, too.

"I believe we made the correct decision in hiring you, Dr. Alexander," Sweeney said. "I have full expectations you'll work so hard in these next five months you'll put at least a year's worth of work in."

Alexander said his mission to ensure the best education for the district's students won't change. He said his top priority will be to help guide the district through the next round of budget cuts.

"How do we maintain what we have in supreme financial difficulties?" he asked. "It's going to take a tremendous amount of creativity."

There will be at least some people who will be happy to see Alexander go, said Joe Vitalo, president of the Hernando Classroom Teachers Association.

But Vitalo said those unhappy with changes need to remember the ultimate decisions are approved by the school board.

"The school board wanted a shakeup and he did it," Vitalo said.

In an interview Wednesday morning with Bob Haa, host of the Haywire talk show on WWJB 1450 AM, Alexander acknowledged that he hasn't always been successful, and that he's made some people unhappy, but overall the district is in "great shape."

"I guess I haven't tried to lead the district by being liked or disliked, but I've tried to make sure we moved forward to do the things that are necessary for 23,000 kids," he said. "I've learned more from my failures than my successes."