Duval superintendent says he will not resign amid request from board chair

The superintendent of Duval County Public Schools said he does not plan to resign after a board member requested he do so.

Dr. Nikolai Vitti said in a statement to Action News Jax on Tuesday that he believes he and the board can work through their challenges on behalf of students.

Action News Jax learned on Monday that board chair Ashley Smith-Juarez asked Vitti to resign and said that if he didn't, she would set a meeting to call for his termination.

Read: Board chair's open letter to Duval County Schools Superintendent

School Board Member Scott Shine tells Action News Jax Smith-Juarez is planning a meeting with the other board members for Friday at 10:30 a.m. Ahead of that meeting, the school board is set to have a previously scheduled joint meeting with the Jacksonville City Council on Wednesday at noon.

Smith-Juarez wrote this in an open letter to Vitti, released on Tuesday: "With regret that we were at impasse, I, privately, professionally and with no malice, asked that you use your talents elsewhere."

The uprising comes just weeks after the board rated Vitti as “effective” in his annual review on Sept. 8.

“I know there’s tension. I can see the tension in some of the board meetings between Ms. Smith-Juarez and the superintendent,” Shine said.

Action News Jax spent months investigating the tension between Vitti and board members. We were the first local station to uncover text messages sent by board member Connie Hall to other board members saying of Vitti "Special Ed in action." Vitti himself called his relationship with the board "toxic."

According to Vitti’s contract, the board agreed to pay him $275,000 per year.

Vitti's three-year contract extension was approved by the board on March, 3, 2015, and his initial contract was approved by the board on Oct. 22, 2012.

Shine said the board chair is having second thoughts and wants to terminate Vitti’s contract, but he strongly believes firing Vitti would be a mistake for many reasons.

“If you look at the statistics on the superintendent’s performance from the past year, the numbers have been very good,” Shine said.

According to Vitti’s contract, if the board fires him without cause, he would still get paid. That’s because the taxpayers more than likely would split the bill.

“I don’t think it’s fair, and I’m not going to support termination,” Shine said.

Vitti's full statement about the call for him to resign reads:

I remain committed to the district, community, and the work that has yielded positive results and momentum. I do not intend to resign and believe the board and I can continue to work through our challenges on behalf of our students."

Smith-Juarez was not at a board meeting to approve the budget on Monday because of a prior commitment.

She released a statement to members of the board and the superintendent:

We have spent extensive time examining student achievement data and the Superintendent's projections for proficiency growth moving forward. At the last workshop we agreed that there was not a clear path forward for our district and I was deeply troubled by both the results and the lack of an aggressive, effective plan for student achievement. I called a Special Meeting for Friday to give the governance team the opportunity to deliberate a path forward that is best for children. I intend to discuss how we can do better for the children and the city we serve."

Trending on ActionNewsJax.com:

• Clay High School student threatened with referral over confederate flag
• Jacksonville nurse accused of sexually abusing 74-year-old patient
• Florida Department of Children and Families investigating Yulee Primary School
• Virginia gov. didn't realize weed was in photo he took with Willie Nelson
• Photos: Jacksonville burn survivor's pregnancy photo goes viral nationwide

Cox Media Group