Two Companies Compete for Duval Superintendent Search | News

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Two national search firms are in the running to handle the chore of helping find the next superintendent for Duval County Schools.

On Wednesday, the school board narrowed down the field from four to two by ranking all the proposals that were in the $40,000 range.

Hazard, Young Attea & Associates and McPherson & Jacobson were selected to come back to make formal presentations to the board.

This month the plan is to name a company and begin a national search for Ed Pratt-Dannals, the current superintendent, who is retiring in December.

The district hopes to attract a solid pool of applicants from across the country to find a "transformational leader" says Betty Burney, board chairperson.

Recently Orange County, which includes parts of Orlando, conducted a national search that yielded that district 21 candidates.  Ultimately the board decided to hire from within.

"We were frankly stunned that we did not get candidates who had superintendent experience in large urban districts at all in our pool, " said Bill Sublette, Orange County school board chair.

Duval County hopes to have a new superintendent in place before Pratt-Dannals steps down in December.