Leon County School Administrator Rocky Hanna is resigning to continue his bid for District School Superintendent. Hanna is challenging Superintendent Jackie Pons for the job, and he’s facing a tough race with City Commissioner Scott Maddox and private investigator Michael Wynn. Hanna is currently working for the district, and he says he’ll resign from his job next Summer in order to continue his bid for Leon County School Superintendent. But the move could cost him financially if he doesn’t win. He's two years short of retirement.
“At 28 years I would suffer a significant penalty that I would want to avoid. So there’s the issue of retirement, and the issue of 1,700 hours of accrued leave over the past 28 years. I could potentially lose all that," he said.
Hanna says it could cost him more than $40,000 but believes the risk is worth it.
“We need to return the focus and resources of our school system back to the classroom where they belong," he said. " And I also believe we have an issue with our teachers and teacher morale.”
The former Leon High School Principal says he wants to boost teacher morale, and will explain the rest later in the campaign.
The race for superintendent will be one of the most expensive local elections in November.
Hanna has raised nearly $121,000 while Pons and Maddox are neck-in-neck at approximately $142,000 and $143,000 respectively. The district is under federal investigation for its use of school construction funds. Prior inquiries turned up no evidence of illegality.
According to Florida law, subordinate officers have to resign if they choose to run against an incumbent seeking reelection.
