- April 23, 2024
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EAST COUNTY — Two years ago, Diana Greene knew little about Manatee County beyond its school baseball stadiums and the Ellenton Premium Outlets.
Greene first applied for the Manatee County School District superintendent position in 2013. The Manatee County School Board hired Rick Mills, and Greene accepted the position of deputy superintendent of instruction for the district.
Now, Greene is in the superintendent role she originally sought for at least the next year, after the school board unanimously approved her for the position following Mills’ departure.
Her tenure began June 1.
“I knew when I interviewed her years ago that Diana would be great as superintendent,” former school board member Barbara Harvey said. “There’s no doubt in my mind she will do great things. She has had time to observe the district, and now is her time.”
Greene got a lesson on being a newcomer to school as a child.
A self-described “military brat” who lived in New York, Germany and other locations throughout her childhood and her father’s career in the U.S. Air Force, Greene got used to new homes, schools, communities and making new friends.
Greene had speech and vision problems and worked with teachers to overcome her trouble communicating, which shaped her belief in the power of education.
“Learning didn’t come easy to me, and it wasn’t until high school that it got easier,” Greene said.
After her father retired from the military, he became an automotive teacher at a vocational school.
Her grandmother was also an educator, so Greene also had resources at home to help her overcome her speech problems.
A Florida resident since the late 1970s, Greene began her career as an elementary school teacher and worked her way up to the deputy superintendent position at Marion County.
During her 12-year tenure at Marion County Public Schools, Greene oversaw 41,000 students and led initiatives that achieved an 86% graduation rate. She also increased the minority graduation rate from 50% to 79.4%.
The lesson from her childhood that she brings to her role as an educator is this:
“Education (is) the gateway to everything,” Greene said. “It provides a doorway to every career that we have in our society. Education is more than what you get in the classroom; it’s much bigger than test scores. Education means enlightenment, understanding, innovation, creation and the ability to ask questions.”
“Education means enlightenment, understanding, innovation, creation and the ability to ask questions.”
– Diana Greene
A community survey the district is developing will help Greene identify her top priorities.
She hopes to combine traditional approaches of community involvement with new technologies and training in education, citing the way the county now hires principals as an example of how the district marries old and new methods.
“They go through interviews and meet with the community,” Greene said. “That’s something the district has done for years. The training that goes through the pipeline for assistant principals before they apply to become principals is new. There’s more training that helps those assistant principals know they’re ready for the higher position.”
Although she mostly oversaw curriculum-related topics in her previous role, Greene isn’t scared of the financial responsibilities in her new position.
She hopes presenting a more unified district will win resident support for the district, which will likely ask voters to renew a half-cent sales tax that expires in 2017.
Greene also hopes to add more vocational programs in high schools, so students have more class options from which to choose.
Greene believes her on-the-job training over the last 25 months in the district, along with her 28-year resume as an educator, have prepared her for the job.
“I’m not from this county, but the focus isn’t on the school board, me or where I’m from,” Greene said. “The conversation needs to be about education, and making sure students walk across that stage.”
Contact Amanda Sebastiano at [email protected].
