Superintendent separation terms expected; Sarasota teachers overwhelmingly support Asplen
The Sarasota County School Board and Superintendent Brennan Asplen are expected to finalize separation terms soon, in preparation for the next School Board meeting Dec. 13.
By law, a notice for a meeting must be published one week ahead of time with an agenda attached, meaning the agenda for the Dec. 13 meeting must be published by Tuesday. If the superintendent's contract or separation agreement were to be voted on or discussed at that meeting, it would need to be filed in that agenda.
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Separation negotiations come as the School Board voted to authorize them at a meeting Nov. 29, despite more than two hours of public comment largely in support of Asplen. The makeup of the board changed dramatically a week prior, with Tim Enos and Robyn Marinelli being sworn in as new board members. The two aligned with the incumbent Bridget Ziegler and Karen Rose to form a conservative voting majority, and the four immediately voted to schedule a meeting to terminate Asplen once they were sworn in.
The board discussed its rationale for terminating the superintendent at the Nov. 29 meeting, with reasoning ranging from falling reading scores to issues with his leadership style. Asplen then spent 30 minutes seeking to refute the School Board's reasoning, describing a toxic work environment riddled with politics since the August election.
Prior to the meeting, Asplen sent a statement to the district's families and staff saying he's "accepted" an inevitable separation.
Asplen was hired by the district a little more than two years ago. More than 100 people rallied to support him, with several arguing it would be difficult to find another superintendent to work in Sarasota if Asplen is fired for political reasons.
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Results of a survey conducted by the Sarasota Classified Teachers Association.
After the meeting, the Sarasota Classified Teachers Association anonymously surveyed its roughly 5,000 members to gauge support for Asplen. Of the 2,095 who responded, 97.4% said the School Board should work to retain Asplen as superintendent, the union said.
Follow Herald-Tribune Education Reporter Steven Walker on Twitter at @swalker_7. He can be reached at sbwalker@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Superintendent separation terms expected; Sarasota teachers overwhelmingly support Asplen
