SARASOTA, Fla. — The school board of Sarasota County Public Schools voted Tuesday evening to accept the separation agreement from Superintendent Dr. Brennan Asplen.
The board of five members that voted 4-1 came to the conclusion after two weeks of discussion and hearing from the public just prior to the vote.
Asplen last week reached a separation deal with the school district after agreeing to separate from the district on Nov. 28 to avoid a potential firing. In a statement, Asplen said that there is no longer an effective relationship between himself and the school board.
Some board members, including those recently elected, voted 4-1 to remove Asplen in a prior vote. They argued that he must go because of low test scores, the handling of new laws and transparency.
Prior to Tuesday's decision, the group Support Our Schools held a planned rally in front of the school board on the matter, supporting Asplen.
The superintendent was hired in July 2020, at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, when he was expected to lead the district through the uncertainty of the health crisis and also heal morale after a sexual harassment scandal led to the previous superintendent's departure.
Despite the board's decision to approve the resignation and separate from Asplen, Barry Dubin with the Sarasota Classified/Teachers Association said a survey sent to staff members who work for the school district showed 97.5% of people who took the survey voted in favor of keeping Asplen in his current position.
More than 2,000 people took the survey in two days, Dubin said.