INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — The Indian River County School Board has cut the list of nearly 70 superintendent applicants down to five, which includes the county’s own Assistant Superintendent of Technology and Assessment Bruce Green.
Green and four others, two of whom are from the St. Lucie County School District, will be called in for interviews beginning March 16. School Board members hope to have all five interviews done in time to make a final decision before Spring Break.
“You have five excellent candidates,” consultant Dr. Wayne Blanton said of the Board’s final list.
Green did not make Dr. Blanton’s Top 8, but School Board members expressed support for the internal candidate.
“He is dynamic,” School Board member Shawn Frost said of Green, adding that Green’s background in technology and assessments might be a big deal in the coming years.
Board member Dale Simchick said she supports Green because he’s already established here in the county.
“He’s not going anywhere,” she said.
Simchick told her fellow board members that she personally interviewed five of the six local candidates – and found that the continuity of leadership and the personal relationships they’ve formed could be a real advantage.
“That has weight,” she said.
Dr. Blanton cautioned the Board in selecting Green, noting that he and the other two assistant superintendents who applied – Dr. Andrew Rynberg and Dr. William Fritz – are a few years away from being ready for the position of Superintendent.
He added that their resumes just didn’t rise to the level as those who made the Top 8 list, but only because the candidate field was the “most talented pool” he’s ever had in conducting a search.
“Is he ready?” Simchick asked about Green. “I’m not sure” but she’s willing to interview him to find out.
The other candidates who made the short list are: Dr. Mark Rendell, deputy superintendent of the St. Lucie County School District; Dr. Helen Wild, assistant superintendent of the St. Lucie County School District; Dr. Frank Rodriguez, area superintendent of the Palm Beach County School District; and Dr. David Christiansen, deputy superintendent of the Lake County School District.
