Looking over my notes from Lee County’s superintendent search, I had one thought that never made it to print. As part of the interview process, the four finalists faced a “mock school board” for a presentation.

The pretend board consisted of union leader Donna Mutzenard, principal Vonnie Bryan, student Tia Smart, employee Susan Morales and community member Cedric Hall. Before the sessions, I wondered who would assume the personality of each real board member: Mary Fischer, Jeanne Dozier, Jane Kuckel, Don Armstrong and Tom Scott.

If you’ve ever visited Hollywood Studies at Disney World, you’ve probably seen the American Idol Experience. It’s just like the real show — contestants audition backstage, and three hopefuls are brought onto stage to perform in front of the audience and a panel of three judges. There’s a Paula, a Randy and a Simon. Granted, two of the three are no longer affiliated with the popular show, but judges still adopt their personas. The “Paula” wears short dresses and is highly complimentary of contestants. The “Randy” tries to connect on an urban level, and is fond of calling singers “dawgs.” And the “Simon” has a British accent and slams contestants with his sharp tongue.

So naturally I was disappointed to not see the “mock school board” actually mock the school board. People might have paid big bucks to see the Armstrong interpretation.

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The Lee County School Board’s citizen search committee was supposed to provide an independent look at the four superintendent finalists. Its roster, though, consisted of Lee County public school students, public school teachers, public school administrators, public school parents and a smattering of community members who’ve worked with public schools on previous issues.

Kaylise Taylor, a 14-year-old home school student, wanted to give her input as well. She attended the May 12 candidate reception, a gathering of adults who pretty much were required or compelled to attend. She bent the ears of all four finalists, asking some tough questions:

(1) What changes do you plan to make that will spark interest in me as a homeschooler to attend a Lee County public school?
(2) Concerning the issue of school choice vs. neighborhood schools, which would you prefer and why?
(3) With budget shortfalls, how do you plan to make a recovery and still provide quality services as other schools enjoy?
(4) With you experience, how do you plan to implement that experience into the occupation of Lee County superintendent?

She collected their responses, gathered her thoughts and opined that Nancy Graham would be the best choice. The school board, however, went with Joseph Burke. Taylor on Wednesday provided some more thoughts, which you’ll see below:

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The drought isn’t quite as long as the 103 years since the Chicago Cubs won the World Series, but the Lee County School Board’s decision Tuesday to hire Joseph Burke as superintendent will end a 91-year hiatus. No “Joe” has been school superintendent here since 1920.

Dusting off the archives (i.e. my desk), I gathered a list of superintendents since Lee became a county in 1887. We’ve had 21 superintendents in all, and Burke will be No. 22 if contract negotiations proceed as planned. He would be the third chief named Joseph, matching the three Rays and three named James. No other superintendents shared a first name.

The superintendent’s job originally was an elected position, but that changed in the latter part of the 20th century. The average tenure was 5.9 years. Twenty of the 21 superintendents have been men. Folks who called James Browder by his initials, J.B., won’t have to change their ways with Joe Burke’s arrival. Burke currently heads the school district in Monroe County, which, coincidentally, is the county Lee left when the state declared Lee’s independence in 1887.

Below is a photo of Daniel Kantz, who served as the first Lee superintendent from 1887 to 1897.

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