Candidate: Janene Fitzpatrick

Dear Residents of Suwannee County,

Hello!  My name is Janene Fitzpatrick, and I am requesting your vote to become the next Superintendent of Schools.  Unlike most candidates, I am not a career politician.  I have spent the past 30 years working in schools, attending trainings, successfully acting in administrative roles, and serving to make the Suwannee County School District a system of pride for our community.  I have worked closely with all school district departments, directly reporting to the current and previous Superintendent of Schools since 2013.  I am confident that I am the most highly qualified candidate to be your next superintendent having been the only candidate to spend that amount of time directly reporting to and assisting the position for which I am running.  I hope that as you learn more about me and my experience, you’ll cast your vote in my favor.

A little about my history, during the summer of 2007, I moved from Lakeland, Florida to Suwannee County with my husband Mark and daughter Aryn.  I brought 15 years of district/school recognized, quality teaching experience in Spanish and Mathematics, as well as a Master’s Degree in Educational Leadership.  Prior to leaving Polk County, I was selected for the Polk County Schools administrative pool, and I was on track to begin a career in school administration.  Upon arriving in Suwannee, I took a teaching position at Suwannee High School in August.  I interviewed with all district directors that December against several qualified applicants, and I was chosen for the position of Assistant Principal of Curriculum at Suwannee Middle School.  I spent 6 years (2007-2013) in this role at Suwannee Middle School serving under two principals.  During that time, I worked on many exciting projects to help improve SMS, if you’d like to read more about those initiatives, feel free to check out my accomplishments page on my website www.janenefitzpatrick.com   

In 2013, I was again asked to interview with all of the school principals for a position in district-level administration as the Director of Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment.  I was again seleted from a pool of very qualified applicants.  In this role I had the honor to serve as support for all instructional content areas and school principals.  This position answered directly to the Superintendent of Schools, at that time Mr. Jerry Scarborough.  When the Superintendent decided to reinstate the Assistant Superintendent positions in Suwannee County in 2015, I interviewed one more time against another qualified candidate and was honored to be selected to serve as Assistant Superintendent of Instruction. This position added oversight of two additional directors – the Director of Student Services/ESE and the Director of Federal Programs. My team and I successfully helped to navigate the challenging 2020-2021 COVID school year, as well as, coordinating the newly themed/configured Live Oak elementary schools – among other projects.  

In 2022, I was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer, and I took an early retirement in 2023 because my prognosis looked grim.  By the grace of God and miracle medical help from the Mayo Clinic, I have had my health restored, and I am ready to get back to work on my mission of making the Suwannee County School District one of the best in Florida.   

 Please take a moment to explore the other areas of my website to view my educational history and experiences, as well as the accomplishments in each position.  You can also find me on Facebook under “Janene Fitzpatrick for Suwannee County Superintendent of Schools” – I’ll try to keep you all updated regarding the events in which I’ll be participating.  I look forward to meeting many of you, and I welcome discussion regarding school topics – my husband and daughter will tell you, it is always my favorite topic.  

Thank you for your time and consideration in this important decision for our county,  The decision regarding Superintendent of Schools will be on the General Election ballot on November 5, 2024.

Janene Fitzpatrick

Candidate for Superintendent of Schools