East Baton Rouge Parish Superintendent Sito Narcisse is one of seven semifinalists in the search for the next superintendent of Broward County, Fla., the nation’s sixth largest school district.
The nine-member Broward County board selected the seven semifinalists Monday morning, choosing them from a list of 16 applicants who met the minimum qualifications previously set for the job.
Narcisse now has until Thursday to complete a nine-minute video interview for the job. The Broward board plans to meet again on May 30 to narrow the field further to a smaller group of finalists, likely no more than three applicants. The board is scheduled to vote June 15 to pick its next superintendent.
Narcisse earned the votes of four of the nine Broward members, as did two other candidates, Wanda Paul and Rita Raichoudhuri. The other four semifinalists earned between five and nine votes to advance.
The Broward board had originally planned to select no more than five semifinalists, as per the process it had previously worked out with its search firm McPherson & Jacobson, but opted to expand to seven semifinalists after Narcisse, Paul and Raichoudhuri tied.
Narcisse took over the East Baton Rouge Parish school system in January 2021, his first time as a superintendent, and his contract does not expire until June 2024.
A native of Long Island, Narcisse in 2002 spent three years as a French teacher at a high school in suburban Nashville, Tenn., but by 2007 he was an assistant principal in Pittsburgh. He has since held a series of administrative jobs, none lasting more than three years, in Boston, Maryland, Nashville and in Washington, D.C. His most prominent position was serving as chief of schools in Nashville from 2016 to 2019.
Mike Gaudet, who has called Narcisse “a visionary,” in January asked his fellow board members to start contract renewal negotiations with Narcisse. Gaudet ended up pulling the item; six of the nine board members had just taken office and weren’t ready to take such a step.
In an email he sent to the board Thursday informing them of his Broward County application — on Friday, he forwarded it to all district faculty and staff — Narcisse made clear he is open to staying in Baton Rouge.
“I continue to be open to conversations about a partnership that ensures my leadership not just today – but for years to come,” Narcisse wrote.
The Broward school district is much larger than East Baton Rouge. It serves about 260,000 students, employs about 27,000 people and maintains an operating budget of about $2.8 billion. Broward County has about 1.9 million residents and Fort Lauderdale is its largest city.
By contrast, East Baton Rouge serves more than 40,000 students, has about 6,000 employees and has an operating budget of about $531 million.
Here are the other six semfinalists for the Broward County superintendency:
- Peter Licata, assistant superintendent for Palm Beach County public schools in West Palm Beach, Florida
- Jason Nault, associate superintendent for Waukegan Community Unit School District #60 in Waukegan, Illinois
- Wanda Paul, chief operating officer for Houston Independent School District in Houston, Texas
- Rita Raichoudhuri, former superintendent for Kalamazoo public schools in Kalamazoo, Michigan
- Luis Solano, deputy superintendent and chief operating officer for Detroit public schools in Detroit, Michigan
- Valerie Wanza, acting chief of staff for Broward County public schools in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
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