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See Candidates For Pinellas School Chief Tonight

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By YOLANDA FERNANDEZ | News Channel 8

Published: September 8, 2008

ST. PETERSBURG - The Pinellas County School Board is close to choosing a new superintendent to replace Clayton Wilcox.

Tonight, the public is invited to meet the finalists at 6:30 pm at the Stavros Institute, 12090 Starkey Road |in Largo. A community forum will follow with a moderator asking the finalists questions from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.

Earlier today, board members questioned two of the three finalists, Nicholas Gledich and Julie Janssen. The third finalist, Alberto Carvalho, was unable to attend because of preparations for Hurricane Ike in South Florida. He rescheduled his final interview for Tuesday.

The new superintendent will take over during a difficult time for the Pinellas School district. The job pays $200,000 to $240,000 a year to lead the 23rd-largest school district in the country, with a $1.5 billion budget, 16,000 employees and about 105,000 students.

The new boss will inherit issues including budget cuts, a new student assignment plan and a minority achievement gap.

Here's a brief look at the three finalists for the school district's top job:

- Nicholas Gledich is Chief Operations Officer for Orange County Schools. He has 35 years experience in education. He believes the first challenge for the next Pinellas superintendent should be to tackle the achievement gap.

- Julie Janssen is a familiar face, having served as interim superintendent for the past four months. She has spent 29 years working in the Pinellas County School system. She believes the budget will be the biggest issue for the next superintendent.

- Alberto Carvalho is associate superintendent of Miami-Dade Schools. He has 18 years experience in education and says he still makes a point of occasionally teaching a class. His resume highlights reforms he implemented to improve low-performing schools.

The school board will meet in a final workshop Wednesday at 9a.m. to discuss their decision and take a final vote during a special meeting at 11 a.m.

Yolanda Fernandez can be reached at (813) 221-2746 or yfernandez@WFLA.com

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