Polk School Board extends search for general counsel, considers using recruiting firm

Polk County School Board members took turns lauding the district’s longtime attorney, Wes Bridges, during a special meeting Tuesday afternoon.

Bridges appeared for a trio of meetings Tuesday, his final day of joining School Board members for public sessions. Bridges announced in June that he would retire after 26 years as School Board attorney.

Amid the well wishes, School Board members made it clear that they are not close to having a successor to Bridges chosen. The special session was devoted entirely to discussion of the search for a general counsel, the revised title for the position.

Polk County Public Schools advertised the position in July on its website, on the job sites LinkedIn and Indeed, on The Florida Bar’s website, with the Florida School Board Attorneys Association and through an advertisement on Facebook, School Board Chair William Allen said.

As of Tuesday, the district had received five applications. Only one met the minimum qualifications for the position, School Board member Sara Beth Wyatt said.

“I don’t think the pool (of candidates) was large enough for us to select someone who can step into the position of Mr. Bridges,” fellow member Kay Fields said. “I think that we need to go back out and readvertise and see if we can get more applicants that will bring the experience that we need to run a district as large as ours, and sometimes as complicated as ours can be, which I'm sure Mr. Bridges would say, ‘Amen,’ to that.”

It appeared that only one candidate is currently practicing law, Fields said.

The district published a timeline for the search process in the agenda package for its July 23 meeting, beginning with advertising the position in late July. The district planned to provide a list of qualified applicants by mid-August and begin conducting interviews in late August or early September.

The salary range for the position is $123,260 to $172,502.

Of the five applicants whose resumes appeared in the agenda for Tuesday’s work session, one did not appear to hold a law degree and only two are listed as active members of The Florida Bar.

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After much discussion, board members agreed to post new advertisements for the position and decide at their Oct. 8 work session whether they need to hire a search firm to assist in finding qualified candidates.

Wyatt asked the district staff to research whether the salary range Polk is offering is comparable to other districts of similar size. She also questioned whether some other school districts rely on contracted law firms to serve as general counsels.

Bridges replied that some districts in Florida use outside counsel, but he cautioned that the cost of doing so could exceed the salary the district would pay a staff lawyer.

Lisa Miller described the position of school district attorney as a “niche” area of the law that limits the subset of potential applicants. Polk County uses outside lawyers for litigation and mediation, she said, raising the question of whether it is essential for the district to have its own general counsel.

Both board member Justin Sharpless and Wyatt asked whether merely advertising the position for another few weeks is likely to generate more qualified applicants.

Fields said that she felt confident that the district will be well served by John Murphy Jr., who is contracted as the district’s assistant attorney, until a successor to Bridges is found.

Gary White can be reached at gary.white@theledger.com or 863-802-7518. Follow on X @garywhite13 .

This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Polk School Board extends search for general counsel, considers using recruiting firm