Orange school board taps ‘homegrown’ Vazquez as its next superintendent

Deputy Superintendent Maria Vazquez, already “at the table” for all important decisions, should be the next leader for Orange County Public Schools, the school board decided Tuesday.

After an hour-long discussion, the Orange County School Board unanimously selected Vazquez as OCPS’ next superintendent, tapping her to replace Barbara Jenkins who is retiring later this year after a decade on the job.

Vazquez, 58, has worked for the district for more than 20 years, as a teacher, principal and administrator. She has been deputy superintendent since 2018.

“I’m just overwhelmed with joy and excitement,” Vazquez said in a phone interview after the vote, adding she was also “honored and humbled” and well aware of the challenges of her new job.

“I know that I am taking the helm after some of the most challenging years in our schools,” she said, with the COVID-19 pandemic disrupting learning and making teaching harder.

Vazquez was one of two finalists for the job. The other was Peter Licata, 57, a regional superintendent for the Palm Beach County school district.

Board members said the decision weighed on them and ahead of Tuesday’s meeting several said they re-watched the finalists’ interviews from last week, read public comments and spoke with employees. More than 870 people watched the board’s deliberations about who to hire on its YouTube channel.

Initially two of the eight board members — Karen Castor Dentel and Vicki-Elaine Felder — favored Licata. Castor Dentel said he would help “shift the culture” in a district with teacher morale problems, and Felder said he would meet community members’ desire for a “fresh start.”

Many teachers view their jobs as “overly controlled and unrealistically demanding” even as OCPS is a district with “so many things to be proud of,” said Castor Dentel, a former OCPS teacher. “I strongly believe we need a shift in our culture.”

Some of the public comments on the two finalists — which the board requested after the interviews last week — reflected similar views in favor of Licata. “I think bringing a fresh outlook to our district would be beneficial,” one wrote.

But the other six, while calling Licata “amazing” and well-qualified, said Vazquez, naturally, had better knowledge of the large school district and her experience as a deputy superintendent gave her a broader view of school system operations than Licata had in his role in Palm Beach.

Vazquez is “second in charge, at the table for every decision that gets made” and that has better prepared her to be superintendent, said Chair Teresa Jacobs. “From an experience standpoint, there is a very big difference between the two and potentially a large learning curve.”

Most board members described Vazquez as caring, responsive to employees, parents and community members and deeply committed to OCPS.

“In fact I would call her fierce with a lot of empathy and care,” said board member Pam Gould.

“This is where I landed: Our school district is not a floundering school district that needs saving with a whole-need reboot,” said board member Melissa Byrd.

But, she added, “We have a significant morale problem that needs immediate attention.”

Vazquez is capable of helping to change OCPS “culture” to help address that, Byrd said.

Board member Linda Kobert agreed.

“Dr. Vazquez is homegrown but she represents a new beginning,” Kobert said. “She has promised to listen, learn and lead. And I believe her.”

Neither Vazquez, Licata nor Jenkins were in the board room during the discussion. Jenkins supported Vazquez for the job, providing a letter of recommendation that Vazquez submitted in her application packet. Licata had a similar endorsement from Palm Beach’s superintendent.

Vazquez said she understood the morale problems raised by board members.

“It’s been an incredibly difficult two and a half years” and “people are just tired,” she said. “They want to feel valued. They want to feel heard.”

Vazquez said she will work to listen to employees, visit classrooms and even work as a substitute teacher to understand the problems and search for solutions.

In her interview with the board last week, Vazquez said she is “living proof of what a quality education can do to transform lives.”

Her parents fled Cuba for a better life here, she said, settling in Tampa. In public schools, despite a language barrier, Vazquez found success “because of caring adults.”

She told the board she was committed to making sure “all children can learn and excel.”

The fact that Vazquez is bilingual is another plus in a district with a large population of students still learning English, board members added. About 40% of the OCPS’ more than 200,000 students are still learning English, with Spanish speakers the largest portion of that group.

The school board received 15 applications for the superintendent’s job, asked for more information on three semifinalists and then decided only Licata and Vazquez were ready to take on the task of running the nation’s ninth-largest school district. OCPS enrolls more than 200,000 students, runs more than 200 campuses and employs more than 25,000 people.

The board expects to offer its next superintendent a three-year contract with an annual salary of $295,000 to $350,000.

lpostal@orlandosentinel.com

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