Petruzielo: Next Two Years "Will Be My Last" As Superintendent

The Cherokee County School Board on Thursday voted to extend the contract of Superintendent of Schools Dr. Frank Petruzielo for an additional two years, with the superintendent announcing his plans to retire in 2016.

Board members voted 6-1, with District 3 member Michael Geist opposing, to extend what was coined the ”eighth/final” contract, which will run though Aug. 20, 2016. All the previously agreed upon stipulations in the contract remain in place.

Before explaining why he will be voting against the extension, Geist did praise Petruzielo. He noted the superintendent has been responsible for bringing the professionalism, leadership and efficiencies of a large school system to Cherokee County, and the success the county has seen since has not been accidental.

“If it were a deciding vote tonight on this matter, my vote would be different,” he said. “However I don’t believe my vote will be a deciding vote so with that in mind, I’d like to express my concern that I think that we’ve had opportunities in the last four years to do things a little bit differently and to maybe build some bridges and reduce some of the divisiveness that we’ve had in this county up until recently. And I think we’ve had some miss opportunities in that regard and I’d like to see us handle that somewhat differently.”

On Friday, Board Chair Janet Read said she was “very pleased” to see the majority of the board support the contract’s extension.

“Under Dr. Petruziuelo’s leadership our district has become one of the most successful school districts in the state of Georgia,” she stated. “I look forward to continuing to work alongside Dr. Petruzielo and the other board members to build on that success.”

The superintendent also said he appreciated the “votes of confidence I’ve received from the school board with eight renewals of my contract, and I greatly appreciate the support of all of our employees, parents, volunteers and partners during my tenure thus far.”

“While these next two years will be my last in this role, I will be bringing the same passion for public education and for the success of every child that we serve as I have every day for the last 16 years,” he added. “We have extraordinary projects in the wings, and I can’t wait to see them take flight.”

Petruzielo joined the Cherokee County School District in 1999 after leading Broward County, Fla. and Houston, Texas, school systems, two of the country’s largest school systems.

Board members also heard from Christian Hatch of Wiliamson & Co., the firm selected to perform the school district’s fiscal year 2013 audit.

Hatch said the district’s financial statements received a “clean” opinion. Hatch said the firm once again listed as a finding one issue that carried over from the previous year’s audit — reconciliation of cash accounts.

Hatch noted the district has implemented procedures to correct the problem and only a few instances were found in the current audit that forced the firm to list it as a finding. However, he added he sees no reason why the finding should remain in place for the fiscal year 2014 audit.

(Photo: Dr. Frank Petruzielo plans to retire in 2016. Credit: Cherokee County School District)