School Board of Manatee County to host meeting on superintendent's contract

The School Board of Manatee County will have a special meeting at 5 p.m. Dec. 17 to discuss the contract for Cynthia Saunders, the superintendent of the School District of Manatee County.

According to Saunders' contract, the board has until Dec. 31 to extend the contract, which expires June 30, 2021. The board approved the superintendent's contract Feb. 12, 2019.

School board member Scott Hopes requested the discussion of the contract be added to the Dec. 8 regular school board meeting agenda for action. The item was added Dec. 4. 

Hopes said with likely increases in COVID-19 cases, holding another meeting was too risky. 

"We have no business, in my opinion and from an epidemiological perspective, of having any more meetings this year unless they are absolutely necessary," Hopes said. 

School board chair Charlie Kennedy wanted to hold a special meeting to specifically address the superintendent's contract and to allow for public notice on the agenda item. 

Mary Foreman, the newest member of the board, followed with a motion to remove the discussion of the contract from the agenda. 

"It did not get added to the agenda until [Dec. 4]," Foreman said. "While you all may have had two years, I had four days to do a deep dive into some data and research. I hope this will be a lengthy discussion and well-considered and thoroughly discussed."

Before voting on whether to remove the contract discussion from the agenda, at least seven people from the public went before the board saying the process was too rushed, and the board should provide more notice and gather input from students and employees of the district as well as Manatee County residents. 

The board voted 3-2 to remove the contract from the Dec. 8 agenda and schedule a special meeting for Dec. 17. Hopes and board member the Rev. James Golden were the dissenting votes.