Don Hall resigns from Manatee County School District

Just weeks after securing Superintendent Diana Greene for a four year contract, the Manatee County School District is losing its deputy superintendent, Don Hall.

In a letter submitted to the school board June 2, Hall handed in his resignation “after a great deal of reflection.”

He declined to comment to Observer staff. His tenure with the district will end Thursday, June 30.

Hall has been with the school district as deputy superintendent since 2013. After former Superintendent Rick Mills was release from his contract last year, Hall stepped up as interim superintendent until Diana Greene was promoted from deputy superintendent of curriculum. Hall said in a previous article that he was never interested in a permanent position as superintendent.

"I do not want to be the superintendent," Hall said. "That's not my goal. But, my goal is to serve the county and the students."

The deputy superintendent of operations and the deputy superintendent of instructional services, currently Cynthia Saunders, serve as Greene’s two right hands as the heads of the rest of the departments in the district. With more than 6,000 employees, 48,000 students and a $600 million budget, the district superintendent can’t know everything, she said, and these two positions advise her on the day-to-day needs of the district, major projects and advising the board.

“These two people have their fingers woven all the way down to the classroom or other site levels,” Greene said. “It will definitely be a major gap in our senior leadership.”

Greene said both out of respect for Hall and her own bit of mourning, she’s not going to rush to fill the position. Besides those points, the district is facing several important projects, including the education half-cent sales tax renewal, building a new high school and reinstating impact fees.

“It’s already a tough job, and to hire someone on when there’s so much going on, it’s even tougher,” she said.

Greene’s vision to fill the position isn’t set, but she said it will be sometime after school starts.

“We have a plan with his division to move forward and take our time in hiring another person,” she said.