Duval County Public Schools’ new superintendent starts Monday

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Duval County’s next top educator officially starts Monday, July 1. Dr. Christopher Bernier’s four-year contract was approved earlier this month after a lengthy search and contract negotiations.

This day is more than a year in the making. It included two different searches and a total of more than two dozen candidates considered by school board members.

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The district’s financial distress, teacher pay, and increasing student enrollment are top issues new DCPS superintendent Dr. Christopher Bernier said he plans to tackle on day one.

A local mother with the organization “Moms Demand Action” agrees with his priorities.

“My mom was a DCPS teacher for 36 years and it’s shameful that Florida ranks dead last in teacher pay. So, we need strong leaders from our superintendent to our school board,” Katie Hathaway said.

Dr. Bernier’s $320,000 salary and contract were approved earlier this month making him the sixth highest paid Florida superintendent. DCPS is also the state’s sixth largest district.

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Hathaway said she hopes Dr. Bernier uses Duval’s size and diversity as an advantage when making tough decisions.

“We really do need public school advocates and our superintendent to push back to Tallahassee. We need to stop the legislation from them to defund our public schools,” Hathaway said.

He was previously the superintendent for just under two years at Lee County Schools.

“I’m looking forward to the opportunity now to work on what I said in my interview is the three-legged stool. One of the most important parts of that stool is the compensation of our employees,” Dr. Bernier said.

His contract was approved in a 6 to 1 vote. The only “no” vote was because of the salary amount, given the district’s financial distress.

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