School Board Names Addison Davis New Superintendent

TAMPA, FL — The former superintendent of schools in Clay County has been named superintendent of Hillsborough County Schools.

The Hillsborough County School Board voted unanimously Tuesday to hire Addison Davis to replace Superintendent Jeff Eakins, who is retiring at the end of the school year.

The announcement came after a seven-month national search for Eakins' replacement.

See related story: School Board To Host Interviews For 3 Vying For Superintendent

Davis is a career educator who began as a classroom teacher 20 years ago. He has served as superintendent in Clay County since 2016. Within his first year, he was named a 2017-18 Superintendent to Watch by the National School Public Relations Association. This past year, he was a finalist for Florida’s Superintendent of the Year.

During Davis’ tenure in Clay County, schools saw significant improvement, including:

• Improving the district’s overall graduation rate to an all-time record high of 91.9 percent
• Increasing the percentage of “A” and “B” schools from 63 to 92 percent
• For the first time in the history of Clay County, African-American students recorded a higher graduation rate than the district average
• Under Davis’ leadership, students across all demographics in Clay County increased their graduation rates for the past three years.

Previously, Davis served as chief of schools for Duval County Public Schools in the Jacksonville area, the 20th largest district in the nation.

He told the school board that he believes in putting students’ best interests at the heart of all decision-making.

Davis graduated from Guilford College in Greensboro, North Carolina, with a bachelor of arts degree in exercise science and physical education and from Jacksonville University in Jacksonville with a master's degree in educational leadership.

Davis and his wife, Natalie, have two daughters, Madisyn and Kaitlyn.

The Hillsborough County School Board met at 2:30 p.m. Tuesday to interview the finalists for the position: Davis; Peter Licata, current regional superintendent from Palm Beach County; and Don Haddad, current superintendent from Longmont, Colorado.