On Saturday, April 6, Lee County Schools Superintendent Christopher Bernier used his school district letterhead to apply for a new job in Duval County. 

Two days later, on Monday, he quit his job with Lee Schools. The School Board approved a separation agreement for him that day. On Tuesday, he listed his Fort Myers house for sale.

Ultimately, Bernier became a finalist for the superintendent job in Duval County, but questions remain about his sudden departure in Lee County. The Duval County School Board is scheduled to pick a superintendent Thursday morning.

Jacksonville Today explored Bernier’s resignation while reviewing the background of both finalists for the Duval superintendent job: Bernier and Daniel Smith, the chief of staff at Loudoun County Public Schools in Virginia.

Smith’s history raised few concerns, but Bernier’s included controversy over his sudden resignation, his handling of a racially charged situation in Lee Schools and two federal lawsuits arising from that episode.

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The resignation

In Lee County, Bernier notified the School Board the weekend of April 6 of his intent to resign. Jacksonville Today has requested public records from Lee Schools regarding the nature of his notification, but the records have not yet been made available.

At a special meeting April 8, held to discuss Bernier’s separation agreement and appoint an interim superintendent, board Chair Samuel Fisher said Bernier’s resignation had “come about very quickly” and was “unexpected.” 

Board member Debbie Jordan, who was chair when they hired Bernier, lamented that members were not going to have a more detailed conversation about his resignation.

“We’ve had two days to try to comprehend everything that has taken place here in this settlement,” she said at the meeting.

Ultimately, the board voted to accept the agreement, under which they would continue to pay Bernier his full salary — about $275,000 annually — and contribute 20% to his retirement and pay for his health insurance and other benefits, for five months. The agreement was effective the next day, April 9.

“I think the board just wanted to support him in finding a new job given the fact that we’re moving to an elected superintendent,” Lee School Board member Chris Patricca told Jacksonville Today. Bernier lists Patricca as a reference on his application for Duval superintendent.

Bernier’s separation agreement also clarifies that Lee Schools will continue to represent and defend him in legal matters that arose while he was superintendent — which quickly became more relevant: On the same day the board met, April 8, a civil rights suit was filed in federal court naming Bernier as a defendant. It was the second suit filed over a racially charged incident a year earlier involving the baseball team at Fort Myers High School that led to the resignation, firing or reassignment of coaches and school administrators. 

The suits allege the district and superintendent permitted retaliation against students on the team who complained about a racist text from a coach and a divided team culture. Both suits are pending, and both name Bernier as a defendant alongside six other district employees and the Lee County School District. 

Andrea Messina, CEO of the Florida School Boards Association, which is assisting Duval Schools with its superintendent search, said the association investigated the candidates through a series of background checks and calls to various people who know them – and not necessarily the people the candidates recommended as references. (Bernier’s references also include Florida Education Commissioner Manny Diaz, but Messina said she didn’t talk to him.) She mentioned the litigation against Bernier and said it’s not unusual for school leaders like principals and superintendents to be named in lawsuits.

“Nothing that we have found makes it disqualifying,” Messina said.

She said she shared all of the information gathered with Duval Schools’ attorney, who then shared it with School Board members. After the board makes an offer to a candidate, the School Boards Association will conduct a final, top-level background check.

Bernier’s explanation

Bernier did not respond to requests for comment from Jacksonville Today. But while in Jacksonville for interviews and a public meet-and-greet on May 13 and 14, he explained his speedy exit from Lee Schools as a way to avoid having to campaign to keep his job.

Nationwide, superintendents are usually appointed. In Florida, though, voters in over half of the districts elect them, although nine of the 10 largest districts – including Lee – appoint them. Voters decided in November 2022 to change Lee’s procedure and select their superintendent, starting this coming November.

“I want this job to be my last job,” Bernier said of the Duval superintendent post. “When I went to Lee County, it was going to be my last job. The voters in Lee County chose to have an elected superintendent. I believe in a governance model of an appointed superintendent.”

But Bernier had known going into his previous job that it was possible the district would switch to elected superintendents.

Lee Schools appointed Bernier as superintendent in the spring of 2022 amid speculation that the county would soon be electing its top leaders. Bernier’s contract acknowledged as much in a subsection titled “Commencement Date, Term of Employment, and Possibility of Elected Superintendent.” It also included an option for him to resign at any time by providing 90 days’ written notice. 

“I will say that he came in with his eyes open. We knew at that time that the possibility of having an elected superintendent may be there,” Lee County School Board member and former chair Debbie Jordan told Jacksonville Today. “Did we actually believe it was going to happen? Not necessarily.”

Last fall, Bernier emailed Lee Schools families to announce he did not intend to run for superintendent but would finish his original contract, which would have been through November 2024. 

The racial controversy

At a public interview with Duval County School Board members during the finalists’ visit to Jacksonville, board member Kelly Coker asked Bernier to reflect on the most difficult personnel situation he’s dealt with in his career. 

Bernier alluded to the incident behind the two federal lawsuits as “a baseball team that went through some racial strife.” He characterized the situation as “one of the most complicated” he’s dealt with and said his role was to help the school’s principal decide what to do. 

Board member Cindy Pearson commented to Bernier that Duval County is a diverse community. “How would you work to ensure all groups are fully engaged with the schools and with the system as a whole?” she asked him. “And how would you handle special interest groups?”

“The same way I’ve always handled them,” Bernier said. “I’m an open person. What you see is what you get.”