• Naples News Now
  • Posts
  • Collier County School Board chooses two superintendent finalists

Collier County School Board chooses two superintendent finalists

Author

Naples News Now
May 01, 2023

Two people are side by side with a flag in the background.

Leslie Ricciardelli, the interim superintendent, and Charles Van Zant Jr. were selected by the Collier County School Board as the two finalists for superintendent as reported by Nikki Ross of Florida News Press.

After former superintendent Kamela Patton signed a mutual transition agreement with the school board and announced her intention to retire at the end of the 2022–23 academic year, Ricciardelli assumed the position of interim superintendent in December.

From 2012 until 2016, Van Zant Jr. oversaw the Clay County Schools. The applicant stated in his application that he is “encouraged to see traditional and conservative values returning to Florida Schools.”Details about the finalists are as follows:

Experience of Leslie Ricciardelli

Present-day acting chief executive officer of the Collier County School Districtdeputy superintendent for the Collier County School District from March 2022 to December 2022Officer in charge of school leadership and performance for Collier County School District in 2021–2022.For the Collier County School District, assistant superintendent of school leadership for the 2020–21 academic yearExecutive director of teaching and learning for Collier County School District from 2015 to 2020She has also held the positions of dean of attendance and discipline, assistant principle, principal, and ESE expert.

Experience of Charles Van Zant Jr.

2020-2022 HR officer for the Florida National Guard and the US ArmyGainesville’s executive director of business development for Meteor Education for the period of 2017 to 2019Florida’s Green Cove Springs Clay County School District’s 2012–2016 superintendentMember of the Clay County School Board from 1998 until 2012Between 1989 and 2022, he served in a variety of capacities for the Florida National Guard and the United States Army.Next, what?On May 9, at the 4:30 p.m. regular school board meeting, the superintendent will be chosen.