Burke to stay on, lead county schools

Michael J. Burke will continue to lead the School District of Palm Beach County, School Board members unanimously decided Wednesday.

The board appointed Burke as interim superintendent after former Superintendent Donald Fennoy resigned in July after a three-year term. Agreeing that the district needs stability and that they believe Burke is the man who can offer that, they opted to keep him in the position permanently rather than open a national or internal search for a superintendent. The School Board’s legal team will draft a contract that they’ll officially vote on Oct. 20.

“The outpouring of support has been very humbling,” Burke said after the vote. “I know it’s a demanding job, but I feel like I’m prepared for it after 31 years in the making.”

Burke was the school district’s longtime chief financial officer. Back when they were thinking of who in the district might be best suited to take the seat from Fennoy, School Board Chairman Frank Barbieri said that Burke immediately came to mind. The district will benefit from his experience as chief financial officer, Barbieri said, as he has the “knowledge to do both academic side and the operations side” of the job.

Burke reflected on the “great team” he said they’ve assembled and said he feels confident they can take care of whatever challenges are thrown their way.

Supporters of Burke spoke out in favor of him at the meeting, commending him for making decisions that move the district forward and prioritize student safety even as frustrated parents flood school board meetings with hours of public comment against mask mandates. Chuck Rickley, chair of the Coalition for Black Student Achievement, remarked on how he believes Burke will not be driven by politics.

“The Coalition believes you have the right man in the seat,” Rickley said Wednesday. “Mr. Burke is a stabilizer, problem solver, consensus builder and not afraid to make tough decisions .... Our experience with Mr. Burke is he’s going to make the best decisions for students and not his professional career.”

Rickley recalled how he was less than impressed with the results of the last national search for a superintendent. “We get these hot shot, thousand-dollar suit academic executives in with impressive resumes and grandiose ideas and then they run up against the culture of this district and they’re out of here in three years,” he said.

He said he also likes that Burke is not a traditional academic leader with a teaching background. In his experience, most of the time those types of candidates speak in flowery academic terms that don’t end up having much meaning, he said.

“I will continue to buy my suits half price at Macy’s whenever possible and remain a man of the people,” Burke quipped.