Former Seminole County superintendent candidate calls hiring process ‘terribly flawed’

SEMINOLE COUNTY, Fla. — The former School Board-approved candidate for Seminole County Public Schools superintendent is calling the hiring process “terribly flawed.”

Chad Farnsworth, assistant superintendent for Lake County Schools, was tapped to take over for retiring superintendent Walt Griffin, but the board reversed that decision after outcry from some parents.

The board ultimately hired Serita Beamon, the School Board attorney, instead of Farnsworth.

In a letter to the School Board, Farnsworth said his work history was misrepresented in a meeting on Tuesday.

“Under the guise of ‘fact-checking,’ you directed staff to share details from old audit findings without proper context, all in a weak attempt to cover what many in the community perceived to be corrupt, unethical, and potentially unlawful actions of the board,” Farnsworth wrote.

Farnsworth wrote he “sat back in silence out of respect for the (hiring) process, though I have found (the board’s) process to be terribly flawed.”

A Seminole County resident is challenging the school board’s recent controversial decision to rescind their vote to hire Farnsworth.

Farnsworth said he’s no longer interested in the job and is asking the district to cease and desist misrepresenting his past.