The School Board of Broward County, Florida, today, named Donnie Carter to serve as Interim Superintendent, taking over from Superintendent James F. Notter, who is retiring from the School District on June 30. Carter is currently Chief Operations Officer for the Broward County Public Schools.

“After 10 years with the Broward County Public Schools, I am absolutely thrilled to lead our District at this time,” said Carter. “My priorities will be to keep our momentum while providing stability, and preparing for a smooth back to school for next year.”

Carter indicates that he will work collaboratively with the School Board and the District’s executive leadership team to ensure a smooth transition. His considers it a challenge to maintain a high level of service, while operating with fewer resources in the wake of a $141 million budget shortfall for next year.

School Board Names Chief Operations Officer Interim Superintendent

Carter, who has over 20 years experience in public education administration, has spent the last 10 years at BCPS. He has served in the position of Chief Operations Officer since 2007. Prior to joining the District, Carter served in administration at Miami-Dade Public Schools.

More than 800 Broward County Public Schools administrators will receive notices of furlough days for the 2011/2012 school year as part of an effort to help close the budget deficit of $141 million. Superintendent James F. Notter, today, provided notice to the leadership of the District and school administrators’ groups about the number of furlough days.

“These actions are being taken to help mitigate the anticipated budget shortfall that the District is facing,” said Superintendent Notter.

Central and area office administrators and principals will have 15 furlough days and assistant principals will have 10 furlough days for the 2011/2012 school year.  This would be the equivalent of a four to six per cent decrease in salaries for a total of $4,553,085.

The furloughs will impact 212 District administrators, 229 principals and 430 assistant principals.  Also, to maximize the savings in energy, the dates for furlough days will be standardized to the closing of schools and District sites.

District officials will initiate discussions with unions to finalize the number of furlough days for their respective groups. District and school administrators, however, will experience the greatest impact of the furloughs to help shoulder the burden of the State budget reductions.