The School District of Lee County’s chief operations officer was named the interim superintendent Monday.

Dr. Ken Savage, who is stepping into the position of Dr. Greg Adkins who is retiring, will receive an annual salary is $209,000 plus benefits for a total estimated amount of $293,788.

Based on the points earned from the interview process, Savage was the No. 1 choice for board members Mary Fischer, Melisa Giovannelli, Debbie Jordan and Betsy Vaughn. The other final candidate, Dr. Vickie Cartwright, was board members Cathleen O’Daniel Morgan’s and Chris Patricca’s top choice.

“My mind changed quite a bit as we have gone through this process. I went from no, I don’t think I want to have someone internal, to I really learned a lot about Ken Savage. His networking goes way beyond just Lee County. He knows people not only all over the state, but the world in academia,” Vaughn said. “In operations he was able to cut a million dollars and saved the district a million dollars. This is a man that is going to tell the truth.”

Giovannelli said she, too, had first wanted to fill the position with someone from outside of the district.

“He was in the system and his children are going to go to school. He knows the importance of that. To have that young of a superintendent in our district is exciting for Lee County. The opportunity to have first-hand experience right here at the dais with making the daily decisions that affects his children. That is what sealed the deal,” she said.

After Savage was sworn in he said it was with great honor that he accepts the nomination to lead the School District of Lee County.

“Here with my family I believe there is no greater honor than to serve my home, my community of Lee County and serve it well,” he said.

Savage said coming out of the past year with the pandemic “we are up against tremendous odds.” He said everyone has had the challenge of supporting the entire community and each other through what continues to be a singular traumatic and defining event of our lifetime.

“It is my job, and our job, to make sense of these challenges and to commit to overcoming them together,” Savage said.

He thanked everyone who has reached out to him to express their support and also spoke to gaining the support of those who are skeptical.

“I am not here to serve any one of you. I am here to serve all of you. For those who are supportive of me today, please know that I am confident I will very likely let you down, possibly even as soon as this week. I simply cannot promise you that I will not make mistakes. However, I can promise you that I will not stop looking within expecting more of myself to give you the very best that I have within me,” Savage said. “I also promise to try and not do it alone. I will continue to hold the highest expectations for all of our leaders and expect a culture of service above all. I hope during this interim period to help all of our employees focus on renewal and sustainability. We work so very hard, it is important to take time for reflection and be fair to ourselves and our families as we undertake this important work.”

He said his primary goal during his time as the interim superintendent is to have an ongoing dialogue on the issues to support the school system.

“We must be brave enough to be honest with each other and strong enough in ourselves to do the vulnerable work for our great community,” Savage said. “This will require clear and authentic two-way paths of communication for our whole community.”

Savage received his bachelors degree in May 2001 from Florida State University in education, his masters degree in August 2006 and his Ed. D in May 2019 from the University of Florida in educational leadership.

In addition to being the chief operations officer from July 2019 to present, Savage also was an adjunct professor for the University of Florida from August to December 2019 and a state level executive for the Office of the Chancellor K-12 public schools for the Florida Department of Education from June 2018 to June 2019.

His career has also included the School District of Lee County school hybrid leadership turnaround principal lead from July 2016 to June 2018 and a school principal and assistant school principal from June 2006 to June 2016 in the district.

Some of his honors and awards include the Governor’s Shine Award in December 2018; the State of Florida Principal of the Year award during the 2017-2018 school year; Lee County Principal of the Year in 2017; and a successful school turn-around principal at the lowest performing elementary school in Lee County from an F to a B, which is the single highest gain in the school grade points in the history of Lee County.

The vote might have been unanimous except for disagreements related to a contract provision concerning intellectual property.

“I regret that I cannot support this. I was all prepared to go yes. I cannot accept this clause. It is because I cannot accept that particular clause of the contract,” said Morgan. “The intellectual engagement of other people is a part of the process. I don’t understand one person becomes the owner and author. The problem is it is not clear. I would support removing this paragraph and going forth with contract.”

According to the contract, “such intellectual property shall not be deemed a work made for hire and shall be the sole property of the interim superintendent without regard to whether the intellectual property was created or developed during interim superintendent normal working hours, or whether the intellectual property was created or developed using resources. Interim superintendent hereby grants to the district a non-exclusive, royalty-free license to use any such intellectual property to the extent such use is necessary.”

Patricca expressed concern over the intellectual property clause at the beginning of the meeting, saying she had not had time to research the provision. She wondered if they could approve the contract without the clause with the understanding that they would have a second assignment document.

The request did not move forward.

Board Attorney Kathy Dupuy-Bruno said the example that was given was if Savage created something for academic services, he could take whatever it was he created and perhaps share it with another district.

“He would like to have the authorship, or ownership of whatever is developed,” she said.

Giovannelli said she felt this clause of the contract was to protect himself and the integrity of his work.

“His background is, he is a writer. I think that is important to note and understand where he is coming from with this request,” she said.

Morgan also did not choose Savage as her top candidate because he made it clear that he intends to make significant changes in a short period of time.

“My ambition for the next six to nine months is to give each department through 18 months an opportunity to regroup. We have a plan. We know we should change the plan because of the things we learned from COVID. Give academic services this coming school year an opportunity to reboot and refresh the strategic plan given what we have learned and what we know, same thing with HR, finance. Those departments are in great shape, but there is a lot of work those departments need to do,” she said.

Morgan also asked what was going to happen with the operations department, as it will lose its chief, which remained unanswered.

“An abrupt change after what we have come through is deeply concerning to me,” she said.

The board also voted to change the number of days the school board can terminate the agreement with a written notice from at least 14 days to 30 days.