Inside Manatee County’s sudden ouster of school superintendent Jason Wysong
By Kerry Sheridan
May 20, 2025 at 5:59 PM EDT
Jason Wysong negotiated an exit package through his lawyer when he learned, ahead of Tuesday's meeting, that board sentiment had turned against him.
The Manatee County School Board voted 3-2 on Tuesday to terminate Superintendent Jason Wysong without cause, meaning they have no evidence of wrongdoing.
Board members said the decision was not about politics, and not a repeat of the superintendent’s removal in neighboring Sarasota County in 2022 after far-right conservatives won a majority on the board and immediately voted to get rid of Superintendent Brennan Asplen, a moderate Republican whose job performance was also highly rated.
“It has absolutely nothing to do with politics or ideology. It just has to do, for me, with my feelings about job performance,” said Manatee County Board Member Charlie Kennedy.
He and two other members cited a range of reasons for Wysong’s ouster, from a dislike of his leadership style, to communication breakdowns, to his response to a recent allegation of teacher misconduct involving an 11-year-old girl at B.D. Gullett Elementary in Lakewood Ranch.
“I think it is time for a change. This isn't a knee-jerk reaction for me. There's a lot of things that have kind of built up.”
Wysong acted according to Florida law when he allowed the teacher, who taught fifth grade, to resign after the girl’s mother said she found a letter he had handwritten, expressing his love for the girl, Manatee school officials said.
After the girl’s mother found the letter in March, the teacher was reassigned to a position in the district where he had no contact with students. He resigned in April.
The teacher was investigated by the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office and the Manatee County school district, according to media reports. A Manatee school spokesman said he “no longer has any connection to our school district.” The Manatee County sheriff did not respond to a request for comment.
The girl’s family wanted the teacher fired immediately, but school district lawyers said that when an employee resigns while under investigation, the file is flagged as a “Do Not Rehire” in the district, and that also serves as an alert if a reference request is received from another employer. The matter is also reported to the Office of Professional Practices at the Florida Department of Education.
Wysong also defended his decision on Tuesday.
"I always put kids at the center of the decision, even when it doesn't make adults happy. Again, I always follow the law even when I don't personally agree with it," Wysong said.
Divorce or counseling?
Board member Heather Felton pointed out Wysong had positive evaluations last year and was just weeks away from his next evaluation.
“With the exception of one board member, everybody ranked him above a 4.1 and to let the public know what that means, a 4 is 'meets expectations, has demonstrated goal attainment and or a high level of performance for designated performance objective’,” she said. “The other board member put ‘acceptable or satisfactory,’ which is a 3.”
Felton and board member Richard Tatem voted against his termination, saying it would be worthwhile to try and improve the board members’ relationship with the superintendent, rather than end the relationship with him over misunderstandings.
"If we could be so graceful as to go through counseling instead of the divorce, there's benefits for all of us too, right?" Tatem said.
“Metrics are moving in the right direction. Graduation rates are up," Tatem added. "We just saw that an email from one of the staff members today, reading grades are going up. Buses are running better, on time. So you're going to fire him?"
During the meeting, Kennedy said he disliked how Wysong had negotiated a $235,000 salary that was tens of thousands of dollars higher than his predecessor’s, and said he believed Wysong made a false statement on an affidavit regarding a different personnel matter, the details of which were unclear.
“I think it is time for a change,” said board chair Chad Choate. “This isn't a knee-jerk reaction for me. There's a lot of things that have kind of built up.”
Mentioning a lack of communication from the superintendent with the board, Choate said, “It's maybe arrogant to say this, but we are the boss, right? Like, we are — the only person we employ is you, and that communication back to us has to be, I mean, pretty much perfect.”
Choate also took issue with Wysong’s leadership style.
“I think teachers did feel more empowered, but I told him, I think he spent too much time in the classroom,” Choate said.
The mother of an 11-year-old girl at B.D. Gullett Elementary told the board on April 29 about how the teacher took her daughter into a classroom alone for 45 minutes while the rest of the class was elsewhere. (1085x628, AR: 1.7277070063694266)
Referring to the most recent Manatee school board meeting, when emotions ran high after the 11-year-old girl’s mother and grandfather addressed the board during public comment about what she endured, Choate said the decision was “not from the April 29 meeting. It's not from any one group emailing me, telling me to do this or do that, or whatever.”
Board member Cindy Spray was visibly angered during the April 29 meeting. At that time, she said, “There was stuff that I wasn't informed about that was brought to my attention during this meeting that shocked me to the core.”
Spray said she believed the teacher in question should have been fired.
“Don't be so afraid of doing the right thing. That's just the way I feel,” she said.
Spray, Kennedy and Choate formed the majority needed to oust Wysong on Tuesday.
“My reason for being here is not just the April 29 meeting. The April 29 meeting pushed me over the top,” Spray said on Tuesday.
Wysong exits the district with at least three months of severance pay, which he began negotiating through his lawyer ahead of the special meeting.
During public comment at the meeting, some said any such decision would be rushed and unnecessary, and that Wysong's performance was solid in his first two years on the job, replacing longtime superintendent Cynthia Saunders in 2023.
Near the end of the meeting, Wysong’s voice faltered as he expressed his desire to stay in the role.
“I'm certainly dismayed that we've reached this point. When I decided two years ago to sign the contract and to come to Manatee, it was certainly with the hope that I would be here far longer than the first three-year contract,” Wysong said.
“Obviously, my preference is to continue to serve as superintendent. I'm very proud of what's been accomplished in the first two years, and I regret that some of you are not happy, because I'm an educator at heart," Wysong continued.
Regarding the case of alleged teacher misconduct with a student at B.D. Gullett Elementary, Wysong said he has been working on “a document of considerations, things that I would be implementing if I were here, based on, again, a very unique situation where you have a prolonged investigation, as opposed to a couple things that have happened in the past, where arrests are quick,” he said.
He said he plans to leave that work in progress with district leadership.
“Certainly, I've been angry about the incident as well,” Wysong added. “I've been angry ever since, because educator misconduct stains our profession, and I understand the concerns about communications and transparency, but I always follow the advice of legal counsel, always.”
Board members said the decision was not about politics, and not a repeat of the superintendent’s removal in neighboring Sarasota County in 2022 after far-right conservatives won a majority on the board and immediately voted to get rid of Superintendent Brennan Asplen, a moderate Republican whose job performance was also highly rated.
“It has absolutely nothing to do with politics or ideology. It just has to do, for me, with my feelings about job performance,” said Manatee County Board Member Charlie Kennedy.
He and two other members cited a range of reasons for Wysong’s ouster, from a dislike of his leadership style, to communication breakdowns, to his response to a recent allegation of teacher misconduct involving an 11-year-old girl at B.D. Gullett Elementary in Lakewood Ranch.
“I think it is time for a change. This isn't a knee-jerk reaction for me. There's a lot of things that have kind of built up.”
Wysong acted according to Florida law when he allowed the teacher, who taught fifth grade, to resign after the girl’s mother said she found a letter he had handwritten, expressing his love for the girl, Manatee school officials said.
After the girl’s mother found the letter in March, the teacher was reassigned to a position in the district where he had no contact with students. He resigned in April.
The teacher was investigated by the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office and the Manatee County school district, according to media reports. A Manatee school spokesman said he “no longer has any connection to our school district.” The Manatee County sheriff did not respond to a request for comment.
The girl’s family wanted the teacher fired immediately, but school district lawyers said that when an employee resigns while under investigation, the file is flagged as a “Do Not Rehire” in the district, and that also serves as an alert if a reference request is received from another employer. The matter is also reported to the Office of Professional Practices at the Florida Department of Education.
Wysong also defended his decision on Tuesday.
"I always put kids at the center of the decision, even when it doesn't make adults happy. Again, I always follow the law even when I don't personally agree with it," Wysong said.
Divorce or counseling?
Board member Heather Felton pointed out Wysong had positive evaluations last year and was just weeks away from his next evaluation.
“With the exception of one board member, everybody ranked him above a 4.1 and to let the public know what that means, a 4 is 'meets expectations, has demonstrated goal attainment and or a high level of performance for designated performance objective’,” she said. “The other board member put ‘acceptable or satisfactory,’ which is a 3.”
Felton and board member Richard Tatem voted against his termination, saying it would be worthwhile to try and improve the board members’ relationship with the superintendent, rather than end the relationship with him over misunderstandings.
"If we could be so graceful as to go through counseling instead of the divorce, there's benefits for all of us too, right?" Tatem said.
“Metrics are moving in the right direction. Graduation rates are up," Tatem added. "We just saw that an email from one of the staff members today, reading grades are going up. Buses are running better, on time. So you're going to fire him?"
During the meeting, Kennedy said he disliked how Wysong had negotiated a $235,000 salary that was tens of thousands of dollars higher than his predecessor’s, and said he believed Wysong made a false statement on an affidavit regarding a different personnel matter, the details of which were unclear.
“I think it is time for a change,” said board chair Chad Choate. “This isn't a knee-jerk reaction for me. There's a lot of things that have kind of built up.”
Mentioning a lack of communication from the superintendent with the board, Choate said, “It's maybe arrogant to say this, but we are the boss, right? Like, we are — the only person we employ is you, and that communication back to us has to be, I mean, pretty much perfect.”
Choate also took issue with Wysong’s leadership style.
“I think teachers did feel more empowered, but I told him, I think he spent too much time in the classroom,” Choate said.
The mother of an 11-year-old girl at B.D. Gullett Elementary told the board on April 29 about how the teacher took her daughter into a classroom alone for 45 minutes while the rest of the class was elsewhere. (1085x628, AR: 1.7277070063694266)
Referring to the most recent Manatee school board meeting, when emotions ran high after the 11-year-old girl’s mother and grandfather addressed the board during public comment about what she endured, Choate said the decision was “not from the April 29 meeting. It's not from any one group emailing me, telling me to do this or do that, or whatever.”
Board member Cindy Spray was visibly angered during the April 29 meeting. At that time, she said, “There was stuff that I wasn't informed about that was brought to my attention during this meeting that shocked me to the core.”
Spray said she believed the teacher in question should have been fired.
“Don't be so afraid of doing the right thing. That's just the way I feel,” she said.
Spray, Kennedy and Choate formed the majority needed to oust Wysong on Tuesday.
“My reason for being here is not just the April 29 meeting. The April 29 meeting pushed me over the top,” Spray said on Tuesday.
Wysong exits the district with at least three months of severance pay, which he began negotiating through his lawyer ahead of the special meeting.
During public comment at the meeting, some said any such decision would be rushed and unnecessary, and that Wysong's performance was solid in his first two years on the job, replacing longtime superintendent Cynthia Saunders in 2023.
Near the end of the meeting, Wysong’s voice faltered as he expressed his desire to stay in the role.
“I'm certainly dismayed that we've reached this point. When I decided two years ago to sign the contract and to come to Manatee, it was certainly with the hope that I would be here far longer than the first three-year contract,” Wysong said.
“Obviously, my preference is to continue to serve as superintendent. I'm very proud of what's been accomplished in the first two years, and I regret that some of you are not happy, because I'm an educator at heart," Wysong continued.
Regarding the case of alleged teacher misconduct with a student at B.D. Gullett Elementary, Wysong said he has been working on “a document of considerations, things that I would be implementing if I were here, based on, again, a very unique situation where you have a prolonged investigation, as opposed to a couple things that have happened in the past, where arrests are quick,” he said.
He said he plans to leave that work in progress with district leadership.
“Certainly, I've been angry about the incident as well,” Wysong added. “I've been angry ever since, because educator misconduct stains our profession, and I understand the concerns about communications and transparency, but I always follow the advice of legal counsel, always.”