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Schools

Schools Superintendent Not Ruling Out Retirement

Julie Janssen held a back-to-school news conference that shed little light on next week's performance evaluation.

Pinellas County Schools Superintendent Julie Janssen could not escape questions about her job performance during a back-to-school press conference she held Wednesday at Countryside High School.

Janssen is facing an Aug. 23 deadline to improve her performance. The Pinellas County School Board gave her the deadline during a special roundtable session that dealt with the issue in June.

During the roundtable, some board members told Janssen they had lost confidence in her. Other concerns included her management of crisis situations, the time she spends responding to negative media published on blogs and Twitter, and her failure to deliver a strategic plan to the school board.

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At Wednesday's news conference, school board member Peggy O’Shea said that with two years left on Janssen's $200,000 per year contract, the board has three options:

  • Terminate Janssen for just cause without pay
  • Terminate Janssen without cause and pay her salary for one year
  • Agree on a negotiated settlement with Janssen and her legal representative

The audience for Wednesday's news conference was filled with educators and members of the media, all wanting to hear what Janssen had to say about the problems she is having with the school board.   

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Instead, she began the question-and-answer session with a prepared statement and declined to take questions about her current interactions with the board.

“This issue will be addressed at the scheduled board meeting on Tuesday. For now I have one job to do, and that is to get school started with teachers in every classroom — the right teachers and the right administrators in every school. I will not waiver from that,” she said.

Janssen went on to explain how she was dealing with the issue on an emotional level. “I have really focused on the work. That’s how I survive,” she said. “If I were to worry about it, how is that going to help? I focus on all the good things.”

In response to a question about whether she has thought about possible retirement and perhaps teaching on the university level, Janssen responded, “Have I thought about it? Of course. I think everybody thinks about it.”

During the news conference, presentations also were made about the focus on equity, literacy and teacher appraisal, all components of the school district's Envision 2014 program.   

Janssen also announced a yearlong celebration of the school district's 100-year anniversary. Special community events will take place each month. The program will kick off from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sept. 24 with a Hands Across Pinellas ice cream social at various points along the Pinellas Trail.

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