- April 25, 2024
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Volusia County Schools Superintendent Scott Fritz will not be extending his contract.
Fritz, who was hired in December 2019, announced his decision via an email to all staff on Monday, March 28.
"Serving VCS has been the greatest experience in my 30 years of public education," he wrote. "I would like to thank each of you for your dedication to our students and our school system. I have personally witnessed what amazing faculty, staff, and administrators can do for kids when focused on igniting their passions."
His contract will expire on Dec. 1.
Fritz said in his email that he will "faithfully serve each and every day with a purpose of improving our work for the remainder of my time."
School Board member Carl Persis said that his first reaction to the news was one of disappointment, as he liked Fritz's leadership and believed the district was headed in the right direction thanks to him.
"I'm just sad that he feels that he doesn't have the support from the board that he needs to move forward," said Persis, who had been in favor of extending Fritz's contract for three more years.
And with the possible departure of Deputy Superintendent Carmen Balgobin — whom Persis said is soon to be recommended for the deputy superintendent position in Broward County Public Schools — Persis said a plan for stability needs to be in place soon. Balgobin, who was hired by Fritz in January 2020, acted as interim superintendent for nine months while Fritz was absent due to cancer.
"I would think that for the School Board, what we should be doing in the very near future is just having a workshop to decide what is our plan going to be as we move forward," he said. "That's what I think all of our senior staff, principals, they need to know that."
School Board Chair Ruben Colon agreed that the conversation on how to proceed is one the board will need to have. Last time, the district conducted a national search, but another option would be to promote internally. He's confident the board will have no trouble finding another superintendent.
"It's a pretty new development and each of us is going to have an opinion on how we think we should proceed, and we'll come together and come to a consensus and move forward," Colon said.
He added that he's glad systems were put in place to improve the district, and that this work will continue on whether Fritz is here, or whether he himself gets re-elected.
"Students will still go to their classrooms and be educated by amazing teachers who are there to carry out the mission and vision of the school district," Colon said.
Fritz's decision comes after School Board members opted for an evaluation before making a decision on the superintendent's contract at their Feb. 22 meeting. A special workshop and meeting were originally to discuss Fritz's contract scheduled for March 22 was canceled just four days prior.
Colon, who called for the cancellation of the meeting, said at the time, he didn't have an indication that Fritz was not seeking to extend his contract. He canceled the meeting because he said he thought it was prudent to pursue an evaluation of the superintendent's contract prior to the discussion of whether to extend.
"So we're kind of back to square one again, but, you know, it's okay," Colon said. "This is part of how this works. As a superintendent, you're always at the mercy of five board members, or at least three, and so I think that we all understand the role that we play and the importance of the role that we play."
