Manatee County Schools Superintendent To Retire At End Of School Year

MANATEE COUNTY, FL — Cynthia Saunders, superintendent of the School District of Manatee County, said she will retire at the end of the 2022-2023 school year, according to a news release from the district.

Her retirement comes at the end of her contract with the school district.

Saunders served 34 years in public education in Florida. The last five years of her career have been spent as superintendent in Manatee County. Her last day will be June 30, 2023, the news release said.

“It has been the pinnacle of my career to serve as the Superintendent in Manatee County,” she said in a statement. “While we have been through some historic challenges – including a global pandemic, massive changes to school security in the wake of the Parkland tragedy and, most recently, Hurricane Ian – working closely with our school board members we have also recorded some historic accomplishments.”

Manatee County’s academic ranking among Florida’s 67 school districts is at its highest level ever, as is the district’s fund balance, Saunders added.

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In a settlement with Florida’s Education Practices Commission earlier this year, Saunders was reprimanded for instructing district staff members to improperly record student withdrawals from 2014 to 2016, inflating the high school graduation rate.

During the 2014-15 school year, when she was executive director of secondary education, only six of the 121 students withdrawn from the district were properly coded.

At the end of 2018 — about six months after being sworn in as superintendent — Saunders was accused of violating two state statutes and five rules, including filing fraudulent information, using coercive means or promised special treatments to influence professional judgements of colleagues, and failure to maintain honesty in all professional dealings.

As part of her settlement, she paid a $2,000 fine and is required to pass two college courses in education ethics within a two-year period. She was also put on probation with the commission.

Following the state commission’s March decision regarding her punishment, several location organizations, including the NAACP and the Manatee County Republican Executive Committee called for Saunders’ termination.

“One of the lessons I have learned through this experience is that I could have done a better job of implementing changes upon entering a new school district, different from the one I previously served. Ultimately, the lessons I have learned taught me a lot about myself and leadership that has served me well in my current position,” the superintendent said in a statement at the time.

Sworn in as superintendent in Manatee County on June 26, 2018, she has since “earned a reputation as a change agent and educational innovator,” according to the district news release.

“She has performed with consummate grace, grit and gravitas as she encountered and overcame many challenges and introduced and established innovative and imaginative educational initiatives,” current school board chair Rev. Golden said. “Her decency, dignity, discipline and dedication have been a blessing to Manatee County and to Manatee County’s public schools.”

When Saunders arrived in Manatee County as executive director of secondary schools in 2013, the district had 18 “D” or “F” schools. By the end of her first year as superintendent, it had eliminated all “F” schools and reduced the number of “D” schools to two. By the end of her third year as superintendent, the district had eliminated all “D” and “F” schools, the district said.

In 2016, the district’s academic ranking amongst Florida’s 67 school districts was 41st in the state based on total points accumulated on state accountability testing. By the end of her first year as superintendent (2018-2019) it moved up to 28th in the state. At the end of her fourth year as superintendent (2021-2022), the Manatee District ranked 25th – its highest ranking ever, according to the district.

“Likewise, the financial foundation of the school district has never been stronger,” the school district said. “The fund balance or reserve funds following the 2021-2022 school year totaled more than $51 million dollars, or 8.08 percent of the budget – well above the 3-percent fund balance required by the state.”

Her career in education includes time as a math teacher, assistant principal and principal, before coming to Manatee County where she served as executive director of secondary schools (2013-2015) and deputy superintendent of instructional services (2015-2018) prior to becoming superintendent.

In December 2020, Saunders was named the 2020 STAR Superintendent of the Year by the Consortium of Florida Education Foundations for her support of the Manatee Education Foundation.