Jason Wysong named Manatee County schools' next superintendent

Jason Wysong has been named the new superintendent of the School District of Manatee County. 

The School Board of Manatee County voted 4-1 to select Wysong, who is currently serving as the deputy superintendent for Seminole County Public Schools. 

School board chair Chad Choate was the dissenting vote. 

Wysong will take the helm of the district after Cynthia Saunders, the district’s current superintendent, retires June 30. His anticipated start date is July 1.

Courtesy Photo

The school board will enter into negotiations with Wysong, and a vote to approve the contract will be taken at a school board meeting at an undetermined date.

Choate said Wysong will begin shadowing Saunders to begin the transition approximately June 1.

Wysong said it will be an honor to be Manatee County schools’ next superintendent. 

“The Manatee County community is awesome,” he said. “It certainly would be an honor to come here and be responsible for student outcomes and working with families and the business community as well.”

Wysong has been serving as the deputy superintendent for Seminole County Public Schools since 2021. Prior to his current position, he served as executive director of instructional excellence and system equity as well as executive director of education pathways and strategic partnerships in Seminole County. 

School board members Richard Tatem and Mary Foreman were adamant about selecting Wysong as the next superintendent compared to the other finalists, Scott Schneider from Duval County Public Schools and Doug Wagner with the School District of Manatee County.

“I value substance rather than style, and Dr. Wysong is the only candidate with qualifications,” Foreman said. “The 100-day plan that he presented in the interview was incredibly detailed and well thought out. He is going to bring some insight that will be very helpful in the future to this district. He’s going to be a quick learner. I don’t think we’re going to have to wait a year for him to know the district. I’m sure he’s going to jump right in.”

Tatem said as the lone deputy superintendent for Seminole County, Wysong has experience overseeing all aspects of education including budgets, instruction and operations. 

Although board member Cindy Spray was not “100% sure” that any of the three finalists met all of her qualifications and requirements for the position, she voted in favor of Wysong because he “checked all the boxes” except for the financial background she wanted to see in a candidate.

Spray ultimately was the board member who put forth the motion to select Wysong as the next superintendent, which was seconded by Foreman. 

Tatem and Spray said Wysong will be able to provide fresh ideas to the district as he’s coming from outside Manatee County. 

“I said at this dias, ‘We need change,'” Spray said. “We do need fresh eyes in here, a different perspective.” 

Although board member Gina Messenger’s preference would have been to select Wagner for his experience and knowledge of the school district as well as trust he’s built within the community, she said if there’s a consensus among the board, she would “happily support” Wysong.

“He is deeply intelligent,” Messenger said of Wysong. “He is a careful decision maker.”

Messenger said even though the vote wasn’t unanimous, the board needs to come together to support Wysong. 

"We all have to get behind that person so they can be successful for the students in Manatee County," she said. 

The biggest concern board members expressed with choosing Wysong is his communication skills. Tatem and Spray said Wysong did not do well during the interview with all five board members, and they could see he was stressed, but he was much better at communicating and more personable during their one-on-one interviews with him.

“He had humble confidence,” Tatem said about Wysong during his one-on-one interview. “He listened well. It was a great conversation that we had back and forth.”

Wysong said his time serving as a deputy superintendent has prepared him to become superintendent. 

He said the similarities between the school districts in Manatee and Seminole counties help him to feel ready to be superintendent of the School District of Manatee County. He said the districts are similar in size, are committed to innovative programming and parent expectations.

Photo by Liz Ramos

While visiting four schools within the district May 10, Wysong said he was able to see first hand the dedication and passion from students and staff.

“You all should be very proud of what your principals and teachers are doing,” Wysong said to those who attended the superintendent finalist meet and greet May 10. “We saw lots of great innovative instruction happening at a very busy time of year with testing and in the lead up to graduation. What effective schools all have in common is strong leaders who benefited from leadership development programs and principles.”

Wysong said the role of the district office is to support the principals. 

“The district sets the vision, the (school) board establishes the budget and policy and then the leadership team’s responsibility is to make sure that every principal is successful because they are closest to that local community,” he said. “When they tell us they need something, it’s our job to figure it out.”

As a district leader who has a 10-year-old son in school, Wysong said he always considers whether the decisions he’s making that will impact the thousands of students in the district is in the best interest of his son.

“If the answer is no, I’m not going in the right direction because when we make decisions that impact families and students, we ought to be able to live with those decisions,” Wysong said. 

As Saunders prepares for retirement, she said the next superintendent will need to continue the collaboration between school district staff, the community and partners of the district because it will be key to success for the district. 

As funding from the state that was provided as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic expires in the fall of 2024, Saunders said Schneider will need to be able to navigate how that impacts the budget. 

Saunders said one of the biggest challenges the next superintendent will face is the constant growth in population in Manatee County, which is resulting in more students in the school district. 

Wysong said with growth comes opportunities for the school community, which he’s excited to be a part of as superintendent. 

“The interesting thing about growth is some people are excited by it and then other people are like, slow down, right?” he said. “Some people love new schools and then some people love that this is the school that their parents went to, and all that kind of tradition.”

He said the challenge is understanding the district's and county’s vision and direction, the economic development of the county, the community’s viewpoint, growth projections and potential for real estate acquisition. 

Wysong said the hardest part about growth is the conversation surrounding attendance boundaries as it’s not a topic parents, school board members and district staff enjoy. 

“It’s planning it all out as far in advance as you can and having lots of conversations with people so they understand what’s coming,” he said. “Overcrowded schools are not good, so are under capacity schools because it’s inefficient that we’re not using taxpayer dollars well. There’s an art to that growth management and how you shape enrollment, and ideally, you want to do it through programs and choice options. Attendance boundaries are a last resort.”

This article has been updated.