The State of Florida and the Board of Trustees for the Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind (FSDB) invite applications for the position of president. The Board of Trustees is charged with identifying an innovative, inspirational leader with proven capacity to embrace and enhance the school’s vision of preparing each student for a lifetime of success.
About the School
Established in 1885, FSDB is an accredited state public school available at no cost to eligible pre-K and K-12 students residing in Florida who are deaf/hard of hearing, blind/visually impaired or deafblind. Nationally recognized for its specialized educational programs, services and advanced technologies, FSDB serves approximately 1,000 students each year—through statewide parent-infant/family programs in addition to a pre-K Montessori early learning center and five K-12 elementary, middle and high schools on its 80+ acre campus in historic St. Augustine.
Accreditation
FSDB is accredited by AdvancED (now known as Cognia) and the Conference of Educational Administrators of Schools and Programs for the Deaf (CEASD).
Governing Board
FSDB operates under the leadership and direction of its Board of Trustees, pursuant to Section 1002.36 of the Florida Statutes. The board consists of seven members who are appointed by the state governor and confirmed by the senate. One of its members is required to be a person who is blind/visually impaired, and one is required to be a person who is deaf/hard of hearing. Each member is required to have been a Florida resident for at least 10 years and the term of office for each member is four years. The board is invested with full power and authority to appoint the president of the school.
Vision
FSDB will prepare each student for a lifetime of success.
Mission
The mission of the Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind is to utilize all available talent, energy, and resources to provide free appropriate public education for eligible sensory-impaired students of Florida. As a school of academic excellence, the school shall strive to provide students an opportunity to access education services in a caring, safe, unique learning environment to prepare them to be literate, employable, and independent lifelong learners. The school shall provide outreach services that include collaboration with district school boards and shall encourage input from students, staff, parents, and the community. As a diverse organization, the school shall foster respect and understanding for each individual.
Values
High Quality Education—We pledge to provide a high-quality education for our students utilizing rigorous curriculum, evidence based effective teaching practices, and cutting-edge technology.
Diversity—To meet the needs of our diverse student population, we pledge to provide highly trained certified educators and specialists to bring all students to their next level of achievement.
Integrity & Respect—We cultivate an atmosphere of integrity and respect by basing our decisions and actions on fair, ethical, and honest standards, treating others in a fair and courteous manner and giving open-minded consideration to ideas expressed by others.
Safety & Security—We pledge to provide the highest possible level of security for our students and staff utilizing up to date methods while maintaining a positive, safe, constructive learning, living, and working environment.
Innovation—We value creativity and innovation in education and seek best practices and new instructional techniques to improve and enhance services to stakeholders through responsible risk taking.
Strategic Plan
The FSDB Strategic Plan 2017-2022 identifies priority and secondary goals, as follows:
Priority Goals
Ensure that students are prepared for college and/or career as literate, employable, and independent life-long learners.
Provide staff members opportunities to grow professionally, enhancing their ability to support students’ growth
Manage student enrollment across grade levels and schools to ensure appropriate use of resources while providing optimal benefit to the community.
Provide a safe and secure social, and digital environment for students, enabling them to become responsible citizens in a technology-rich world.
Maintain good working relations with the Florida Department of Education and the Florida Legislature, ensuring that legislators, legislative staff members, and Department personnel are well informed about the work of FSDB and confident in the school’s performance and stewardship of resources.
Strengthen internal and external stakeholder communications in support of the above goals.
Secondary Goals
Monitor and maintain good relations with stakeholders – parents, faculty and staff, students, alumni, donors, and the community
Manage staff resources efficiently and effectively.
Manage campus infrastructure responsibly with attention to maintenance and planning for the future
Actively seek and acquire support of private donors to provide resources that supplement those provided by the state.
Position Summary
The president serves as the chief administrative officer and educational leader of FSDB, under the direction of the Board of Trustees. This position does have financial disclosure responsibility in accordance with Chapter 112, Section 3145 of the Florida Statutes. Responsibilities include:
Developing and implementing policies and procedures to achieve the school’s mission of providing quality educational programs, boarding programs, and services for students who are deaf/hard of hearing, blind/visually impaired, or deafblind.
Working with the executive and legislative branches of government of the State of Florida to identify needs and provision of resources to the school.
Directing the operation of the school through the various program administrators and supervisors in order to provide quality and efficient use of fiscal and human resources.
Serving as the final authority on issues that require determination on budget, personnel, and programs.
Interpreting and implementing the policies and directives established by the FSDB Board of Trustees.
Developing and recommending administrative organizations that provide efficient and effective service delivery system to FSDB students and their families.
Recommending budget and policy adoption to the board and communicating with the board regarding budgetary and policy issues.
Directing the development of a master plan to maintain and enhance the physical facilities and grounds of the school in order to meet the needs of the students served by the school.
Providing direction to designated staff toward funding opportunities outside the general revenue areas and assisting in the development of strategies for private funds and grants for specialized projects.
Maintaining liaison with the state department of education, school districts, the legislature, and other appropriate agencies to enhance the operations and services of the school.
Other duties and responsibilities as assigned
Knowledge, Skills and Abilities
Knowledge of organizational structures, budgets, human resource management, educational laws and rules, facilities management, student discipline, parent rights and responsibilities, residential programming, educational programming, finance and development, and political structures.
Knowledge or willingness to become familiar with laws, rules, and regulations governing education in the State of Florida.
Demonstrated ability for good leadership and human relations skills.
Demonstrated ability to lead a complex organization.
Ability to coordinate a diverse staff, organize a system to serve a diverse population; Ability to initiate a personnel evaluation system at all levels.
Ability to manage a large organization in an efficient manner.
Ability to make decisions affecting the overall school program.
Ability to plan, organize, coordinate, and assist in the daily operations of the school.
Ability and willingness to effectively interact with FSDB parents and students.
Ability and willingness to effectively interact with State and Federal agencies, schools and organizations.
Ability to complete training and administer skills acquired during CPR.
Qualifications
Master’s degree or higher, from an accredited college or university.
Knowledge of, and involvement with, deaf/hard of hearing and blind/visually Impaired issues. Eight (8) years of experience in an educational setting.
Five (5) years of supervisory experience.
Proven leadership skills with experience in educational administration.
Proven communication and interpersonal skills that will allow him/her to relate to staff, students and legislators.
Proven experience with budget formulations and other fiscal matters.
Preferred: Current certification in deaf/hard of hearing education or blind/visually impaired education, or eligible for certification within a reasonable amount of time as specified by the board.
Requirements
Prior to interview, selected applicants will be required to complete a detailed background investigation not limited to credit check, level 2 background as required by Section 435.04, Florida Statutes, and inquiries to previous employers. Please be further advised and forewarned that Florida has a very expansive Public Records Act (Chapter 119 of the Florida Statutes). Consequently, FSDB cannot guarantee that information divulged to it, or obtained by it, in the course of performing the abovementioned background checks, will be exempt from Florida's Public Records Act. Quite the contrary, unless the information disclosed to, or obtained by, FSDB falls within a discrete and narrow exception to the Public Records Act, such information will be available to anyone who requests it.
The president is required to physically reside on the FSDB campus, even after normal business hours, in order to respond to any urgent needs or emergency circumstances, 24 hours a day, at the earliest possible opportunity. The requirement that the president must physically reside on the campus is expressly for the convenience of the school, as well as the safety and wellbeing of its students, faculty, staff and stakeholders. The president will continuously reside at the President’s Residence on campus during the term of employment. In addition to performing work from the business office located in Walker Hall, it is understood and agreed that the president will routinely perform work from the President’s Residence, either after business hours and/or on weekends.
The president will be required to use certain parts of the President’s Residence, and/or its surrounding grounds, on multiple occasions throughout the calendar year for school-related business meetings, conferences, and the entertainment of officials, donors, stakeholders, alumni, and other groups or individuals, as well as for planned school-related events, functions, galas or parties.
The president’s work schedule is at least 40 hours weekly. The president is also expected to be on call at all times.
The applicant who is selected will be required to attain Intermediate proficiency in sign language, within four years of hire. FSDB provides education to acquire sign language skills.
Salary and Benefits
Salary is commensurate with education, credentials, and experience.
Salary range: $85,506.31–$140,788.77.
On-campus housing and automobile for official business.
Florida retirement system (all staff members are required to contribute 3% of their salary on a pre-tax basis).
Health insurance ($50/month for individual coverage, $180.00/month for family coverage).
Life insurance ($25,000 paid for by the state).
Supplemental policies are offered to employees (dental, vision, additional life insurance, accident, hospitalization, etc.).
Annual leave (8.15 hours) and sick leave (2 hours) every 80-hour pay period.
Nine (9) paid holidays and one personal day per year.
Moving expenses to on-campus housing (payment or reimbursement of moving expenses will be reported on form W-2 and will be subject to employment taxes).
Application Deadline and Process
The deadline for applicant submission through People First is June 25, 2020. In order to be considered for employment in this position, all applicants must attach the following:
Proof of transcript(s)
Current certification(s), if applicable
Curriculum vitae or resume.
Please note: Once an application is submitted, it cannot be altered, nor can attachments be added.
The State of Florida is an Equal Opportunity Employer/Affirmative Action Employer and does not tolerate discrimination or violence in the workplace.
Candidates requiring a reasonable accommodation, as defined by the Americans with Disabilities Act, must notify the agency hiring authority and/or People First Service Center (1-866-663-4735). Notification to the hiring authority must be made in advance to allow sufficient time to provide the accommodation.
The State of Florida supports a drug-free workplace. All employees are subject to reasonable suspicion drug testing in accordance with Section 112.0455, F.S., Drug-Free Workplace Act.
The State Personnel System is an E-Verify employer.
Contact
If you have questions that are not addressed above, contact:
Carrie Arnold, Director Human Resources Email: arnoldc@fsdbk12.org
Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind 207 San Marco Avenue St. Augustine, FL 32084
About FSDB
The Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind is a tuition-free state public school and outreach center available to eligible Pre-K and K-12 students who are deaf/hard of hearing, blind/visually impaired, or deafblind. At FSDB, students learn how to do more, be more, and achieve more, fulfilling our vision of preparing them for a lifetime of success. FSDB gratefully accepts private donations to support vital programs that directly benefit students and are not paid by state general revenue funds. For a campus tour or to inquire about eligibility for enrollment, contact FSDB Parent Services at 904-827-2212 voice or 904-201-4527 videophone. For more information, visit www.fsdbk12.org
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