Turning page on hard year, Duval School Board picks SW Florida superintendent to run schools

Duval County’s School Board chose former Lee County Superintendent Christopher Bernier to run its school district Thursday, signaling a new start for an agency grappling with budget worries and slipping enrollment.

Bernier is expected to succeed Superintendent Dana Kriznar this summer, filling a role the longtime administrator had staffed temporarily since former Superintendent Diana Greene retired a year ago.

School district staff will begin talking with Bernier with the aim of having a contract negotiated in time for the School Board to give approval at its next regular meeting on June 4.

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Those talks will also decide a starting date, although the School Board had set a target of July 1.

In a brief phone call with board members Thursday, Bernier said he was "humbled and honored" by the selection and looked forward to focusing on priorities that included advancing student achievement.

Bernier became superintendent in 2022 of Lee County, a roughly 90,000-student school district which includes Fort Myers, after working during three years as chief of staff for the Clark County, Nevada, district in Las Vegas. Bernier said he had intended to spend the rest of his career in Lee County, but voters there approved a measure making its superintendent job an elected position begining in November and he didn't want to run for office.

Until 2019, he had a 32-year career with Orange County schools around Orlando, spending nine years as associate superintendent after advancing from history teacher and coach to dean of students, assistant principal then principal at a series of middle schools and high schools.

Bernier resigned as Lee County's superintendent days after applying in April to work in Jacksonville. He was named a finalist for a auperintendent's job in Reno, Nevada, but witrhdrew from that contest, saying he wanted to concentrate on seeking the job in Duval County.

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The School Board picked Bernier over Daniel Smith, chief of staff for Loudoun County, Va. schools in the Washington suburbs, in a unaniomous vote that followed a discussion where members largely praised both men as well-qualified.

Bernier's decades of work in Florida school systems provided him a meaningful advantange, however, even with board members who called Smith an education visionary.

"My big concern with Smith is the Florida way of work is very specific," member Kelly Coker told School Board colleagues. "... Dr. Smith is definitely impressive and if he knew the Florida way of work, ths could be a very different conversation."

Nearly all of Smith’s 22-year career has been spent in Virginia.

Member Warren Jones said he thought Smith "can move us academically better than Dr. Bernier," but that Bernier's experience and record made him "the right person at this point in time."

Bernier has been applauded for the way Lee schools recovered from an estimated $230 million in damage Hurricane Ian inflicted on the district in 2022.

Board members also said some NAACP officials praised Bernier's efforts as Lee superintendent, and member April Carney said relatively small Black and Hispanic populations in Loudoun County could make Smith less prepared to address issues specific to those groups.

However a Black state lawmaker, Rep. Angie Nixon, D-Jacksonville, expressed concerns about Bernier on Facebook.

"They just invited a fox into the hen house. This is SO DISAPPOINTING," Nixon wrote after the School Board decision. Bernier's resume when he applied to be superintendent listed state Education Commissioner Manny Diaz under "personal references," but Diaz's close alignment with Gov. Ron DeSantis' education policies has created political baggage.

Before voting on the superintendent choice, board Chair Darryl Willie said “I’m leaning Smith,” but that he could see the majority was with Bernier and that it was important to show the whole board was ready to work with the superintendent to benefit students.

“We need a signal right now that we’re on the same page,” Willie said.

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Former Lee County Superintendent Bernier picked to lead Duval schools