MIAMI (CBS4)- Collier County School District has a new member on their team and she’s from Miami. Kamela Patton, a 24-year veteran of the Miami Dade Public Schools system, was named the new superintendent of the Collier County School District this week.

Patton, the current Region II director of curriculum for Miami-Dade Schools, was selected unanimously for the position by the five-member Collier County School Board, according to CBS4 news partner The Miami Herald.

“We have growing diversity in our student population,” said Julie Sprague chairwoman of the Collier County School Board. “Her wealth of knowledge in curriculum education is going to be a great asset for us.”

In seeking the position, Patton, a former Teacher of the Year at Frank C. Martin Elementary School in Kendall, had the support of her boss, Miami-Dade Schools Superintendent Alberto Carvalho.

“Over the years I have come to know Dr. Patton as a colleague who is committed to the best interest of students and community as a whole,” Carvalho wrote in a letter to the Collier School Board.

Prior to accepting Collier’s offer, Patton was also a finalist for the superintendent of schools position in Lee County.

She is expected to officially start her new gig on July 1, according to a news release from the Collier County School District.
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