Update, Aug. 20: Local school system executive Dennis Carpenter will not be the next superintendent of the school system in Duvall County, Fla.
According to website of the Florida Times-Union in Jacksonville, Fla., the Duvall County School Board has selected five finalists for the system's superintendent position, and Carpenter was not among them.
Original Story, July 31: Local school system executive Dennis Carpenter is one of 30 candidates who has applied for superintendent of the 124,990-student school system in Duval County, Fla.
The Duval County School Board is scheduled to review the applications Aug. 16 and hopes to hire a superintendent by Sept. 1, according to the website of the Florida Times-Union newspaper in Jacksonville, Fla., Duval County's county seat.
Carpenter has been deputy superintendent for operations in the Newton County School System since July 2009 and was associate superintendent for human resources for Newton schools from April 2008 to June 2009, according to the application he submitted to the school system, which can be read along with other's applications at Duval County schools' website.
The Duval County Public School System has 183 schools, with an enrollment of 124,990 students and an employee base of 14,059. The system had a graduation rate of 71.2 percent and a drop out rate of 2.3 percent.
"I am indeed an applicant for the Duval County superintendency," said Carpenter. "Although I still enjoy the important work and continuous improvement efforts I am a part of in our school district and the greater community, I find it professionally rewarding to be considered in the conversation related to the selection of the next superintendent of a district of approximately 125,000 students," Carpenter said in an email Monday.
"Having had the privilege of working on a youth and community service initiative with several members of the Jacksonville community approximately seven years ago, I was humbled when (I was) contacted and encouraged to apply by current and former Jacksonville residents."
