Hillsborough names 8 finalists for superintendent

TAMPA, Fla. - What started as 51 applicants was narrowed down to eight Monday, as the Hillsborough County School Board searches for its next superintendent.

Two of those eight chosen are internal candidates, Christopher Farkas and Harrison Peters.

School district spokesperson Tanya Arja says the district hired a search firm to conduct a nationwide search after Jeff Eakins announced his retirement last summer. 

"They had over 1,000 candidates for 48 different states from across the country that are interested to come to Hillsborough County, because of the great things that are happening here,” Arja said. 

And there is a lot to manage. Hillsborough is the seventh-largest school district in the country. Whomever follows Eakins will also be in charge of the $3.1-billion budget.

"We have 235 schools, and over 225,000 students,” Arja said. “We are the largest employer in Hillsborough County. So whatever happens in Hillsborough County is really a driving force for this community."

And they're using community input to help make the decision.

"Starting back in September, the district actually did surveys and community meetings, stakeholder meetings to get input from the community, from our parents, from our staff members, on what qualities they wanted to see in a superintendent," she said. 

Up next is one-on-one interviews with the school board on January 16. It will then be narrowed down to the top two candidates before making a decision on January 21.

The full list of candidates is below: 

Alexa Cunningham – superintendent, Salt Lake City, UT
Addison Davis – superintendent, Clay County, FL
Stephanie Elizalde – chief schools officer, Dallas, TX
Christopher Farkas – deputy superintendent, Hillsborough County, FL
Don Haddad – superintendent, Longmont, CO
Peter Licata – regional superintendent, Palm Beach County, FL
James McIntyre – university professor and former superintendent, Knoxville, TN
Harrison Peters – chief of schools, Hillsborough County, FL