Sarasota School Official Will Carry Out Duties Of Superintendent

SARASOTA, FL — The Sarasota County School Board has appointed acting superintendent and chief financial officer, Mitsi Corcoran, to the position of interim superintendent.

Corcoran was appointed acting superintendent on Nov. 19 to serve on a short-term basis, but her role was expanded Tuesday to serve as superintendent and CFO until a permanent superintendent is hired sometime in 2020.

"'Acting' is very short term — usually a few weeks or a month to operationally and legally function," a district spokesperson told Patch. "An interim is usually longer in tenure — several months or longer — until a permanent hire is made."

Corcoran is filling the position left vacant by last month's resignation of District Superintendent Todd Bowden who announced he was stepping down over an investigation into his handling of allegations involving inappropriate behavior by the district's former chief operating officer and assistant superintendent, Jeff Maultsby.

A Certified Public Accountant, Corcoran has served as the chief financial officer of Sarasota County Schools since 2007. Prior to that, she served 10 years with Sarasota County Government as the general manager of financial services with the county commission and with the clerk of the circuit court finance division.

Corcoran is a past president of the Florida School Finance Officers Association and she currently serves on the State Finance Council working with the Department of Education’s financial leaders on policy and best practices.

Under a mutual separation agreement, Bowden was placed on paid administrative leave through Dec. 31 at his regular $207,000-a-year salary with benefits.

Bowden will be paid another 20 weeks of salary and benefits in a lump sum from the district no later than Jan. 15, 2020. He will also be reimbursed another $65,523.11 in personal legal fees.

In exchange, Bowden has agreed not pursue any claims against the school district. The complaint against Maultsby and the subsequent complaint against the handling of the initial complaint led to an independent investigation by Vicki Sproat of Sproat Workplace Investigations. Sproat's findings were contained in a report received by district officials on Oct. 16.

The complaint against Maultsby was filed by senior administrative assistant Cheraina Bonner. She filed a second complaint against the superintendent and human resources executive Al Harayda over their handling of her initial complaint.

Bonner complained she was sexually harassed by Maultsby, who was also a former director of field operations with the Cincinnati Reds. She claimed she was the victim of sexual and racial discrimination as well as other "improprieties" in the handling of the complaint by district officials, according to a report reviewed by Patch.

Maultsby was accused of blocking or denying Bonner's promotion based on him needing her in his current position and sending inappropriate texts such as asking if Bonner missed him. Maultsby was also accused of making statements about his ability to make women "curl their toes" and allegedly made a comment that he did not want a female employee to work in his division because she was too attractive and he could not control himself around her.

Bowden has said he plans to remain in the district with his wife and two children, both of whom attend Sarasota County schools.