HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, Fla. — The Hillsborough County School Board voted unanimously to appoint Van Ayres as Hillsborough County Public Schools Superintendent.
The contract for Ayres is for four years, ending in 2027. It comes with a $330,000 annual salary.
Ayres has been the interim superintendent for the past four months after the former superintendent, Addison Davis, announced his resignation over the summer.
Ayres has been with the Hillsborough School District for more than 26 years as a teacher, principal, and part of the district’s leadership team prior to this role.
"To be appointed Superintendent of this great school district, just it means so much to me," Ayres said after the vote on Thursday. "Proud and privileged is an understatement. I couldn't be luckier to have such a supportive board, and we've got lots of work to do, and I look forward to the work ahead."
Ayres has been on a temporary contract as interim superintendent that was set to expire in July 2024 with a $310,000 salary.
Ayres said his goals center around early learning, third grade proficiency and literacy rates, and graduation rates.
ABC Action News asked Board Chair Nadia Combs what made them confident they had the right person for the job.
“So many individuals really believed in Superintendent Ayres because he is so student-centered, and he is so centered on morale, and he will deal with some challenges, and I know that he’s going to make the right decision for students," said Combs.
The Hillsborough Classroom Teachers Association supports moving forward with Ayres.
“We are excited that the school board seems poised to give superintendent Ayres a contract where he’ll be the permanent superintendent. We feel good about the collaboration and the communication that we get both as a union and for the employees,” said Rob Kriete, HCTA president.
Also during that meeting, the School Board unanimously approved the recently negotiated raises and contract agreements for teachers, educational support staff, and administrators.
“It’s about 12,800 teachers that are a part of that bargaining unit, so the average raise there was about $3,000," said Ayres. "$40 million incurred to the district in recurring expense, but we value all of our employees."
“Everybody is going to get their years of experience and a small increase, so we’re excited to be able to do that for the employees while recognizing that we need to do more because we have so many vacancies in Hillsborough County,” said Kriete.
Kriete told ABC Action News that this increase isn’t enough to compete with other districts to recruit and retain teachers and support staff.
"This is just one step. It’s a step forward, but there’s a lot more work to be done because we have students that have many needs, and we want to be able to meet those needs every single day in every one of our schools,” said Kriete.
