Former Clay County Superintendent Addison Davis on Thursday resigned from his position as superintendent of Hillsborough County Public Schools.
His resignation opens the possibility that Davis could be in the running to become the next superintendent of Duval County Public Schools after the departure of Dr. Diana Greene in May. Multiple sources have told News4JAX that Davis has expressed interest in the job.
“Please understand that this was one of the most difficult decisions that I have ever had to make as our work in HCPS in not done. With this said, I have the opportunity to return to northeast Florida where my entire family resides,” Davis said in his resignation letter.
Davis told the Tampa Bay Times last week he was not applying for the DCPS job but “did not discount the idea that someone might offer it to him”
Davis was Chief of Schools for DCPS and worked in the district for 18 years, starting as a teacher before moving to assistant principal, principal and region superintendent.
Davis was elected as school superintendent in Clay County in November 2016. He was then hired by the Hillsborough School District in 2020.
News4JAX tried to call Davis on Thursday afternoon, but he did not immediately respond.
DCPS has named an interim superintendent and has already started the process of hiring a new one, but hiring the next leader of Duval schools could be pricey.
A consultant told the school board at a Wednesday workshop that superintendent salaries are rising because of the climate of education in Florida and the instability of the job. Just five out of 29 appointed superintendents in Florida have been in their positions since 2020, the consultant said.
The school board discussed the next steps in their search at Wednesday’s workshop, and they are considering taking action to possibly hire an outside recruiting and consulting firm to aid in the search as soon as next week.
The process to hire Greene, which was five years ago, went on for more than seven months.
Duval County Public Schools has established a page on the website dedicated to the superintendent search.
For more information, go to the DCPS website.