Mullins tapped as new schools boss

Mark Mullins, a longtime school administrator and Melbourne Beach resident, has been selected as the next superintendent of Brevard Public Schools.

Mullins, currently the school district’s chief operating officer, was among 12 candidates for the job to replace outgoing superintendent Desmond Blackburn, who resigned in May to take a job with a nonprofit educational organization based in California.

The board will now enter into contract negotiations with Mullins, with his pay expected to be between $175,000 to $225,000 for at least three years.

While Mullins was widely considered the top contender for the job, his selection was unorthodox: The board voted 3-2 at its latest meeting to skip the rest of the selection process, including interviews with Mullins and other top candidates, and jump straight ahead to appointing Mullins.

“For me, there’s one candidate that stands out,” board member Tina Descovich said. “I have built a relationship, I feel like, with him of trust. I can count on him to handle issues when I go to him.”

Descovich made the motion to dispense with the formalities and hire Mullins on the spot. Board members Misty Belford and Matt Susin cast the dissenting votes, although both expressed their support for Mullins.

Mullins started his career in Brevard County in 1994 as a math teacher and head soccer coach at Cocoa Beach Junior/Senior High School. He was briefly director of a district program that oversaw truancy intervention, mental health services and similar programs, before serving as an assistant principal at Palm Bay High and Southwest Middle, followed by a five-year stint as principal at Clearlake Middle School. He entered administration at the district level when he was appointed as an area superintendent in 2010. He has been in his current position since 2016.

The vote to hire Mullins came after a 30-minute discussion in which each board member listed their top candidate or candidates. Mullins was the only one who was named by every board member as a favorite. Four of the 12 other applicants were also mentioned as potential finalists.

The board originally had been scheduled to interview finalists for the job on June 21 and June 22. Board member Andy Ziegler said he didn’t see any reason to continue screening the other candidates when there was a clear winner already.

“I’m not sure what it is that we are going to look at from them that’s going to wow us into saying they’re a better choice,” Ziegler said. “The question is, are we going through the process because we believe there’s a better leader out there?

“I can’t figure out in my mind what more I would need from one of these other candidates to choose them, because all the right pieces are currently in place with Dr. Mullins.”

Belford expressed concerns about rushing the selection process.

“I can’t disagree with anything that has been said with regard to candidates,” Belford said. “The thing that I will say, I cringe at the idea of making a decision without all the information. I feel that I owe it, and we owe it, really, to our community to make sure we are evaluating the options.”

Belford and Susin both made it clear they weren’t against Mullins, but rather they believed a certain protocol should be followed.

“I think that in the end whoever we select will have the highest legitimacy, along with the district, based on us going through the process of what we set forth to do,” Susin said.

Descovich said there was need to bring the other candidates in for interviews.

“Spending the money and the time to bring them here when five of us have all agreed on one candidate … I believe in the process but I also believe in not wasting time and money,” she said.

Board members had made it clear all along that their goal was to hire someone from within. While anyone was welcome to apply, they did not advertise the position nationally as is commonly done with such high-profile hire.

Mullins had the most district-level experience of any local candidate to apply. Others who applied from Brevard County were John Holmquist, a teacher and former college professor; Eau Gallie High School teacher David Schleith; and Gary Shiffrin, a longtime school administrator and current chairperson of the Independent Citizens Oversight Committee.

Shiffrin took issue with the board’s decision to forego the formal interview process.

“I have been involved in Brevard education for the past 47 years,” said Shiffrin, who is also executive director of the Brevard Association of School Administrators.

“I do not recall any time that there have not been interviews for the selection of this most important job. I am not saying that Dr. Mullins is not qualified because he is highly qualified,” Shiffrin said. “But, I would have hoped that other candidates would have had the opportunity to share their views and their vision for our school system.  In a process of complete transparency interviews should have been mandated.”

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