Barbara Jenkins

In 2012 Dr. Barbara Jenkins was named superintendent for Orange County Public Schools, the eighth largest district in the nation with 206,000 students. She retired from OCPS in December 2022. Under Jenkins' leadership, the district won the prestigious Broad Prize for Urban Education. The district also received the Governor’s Sterling Award. The Sustained Excellence Award was attained for exemplary performance using research-based best practices in business. The district passed a second half-penny sales tax referendum for capital projects totaling $2.4 billion and two property tax referenda for operations projected at $1.2 billion to support a $5.5 billion annual budget. Most importantly, the district reached an unprecedented graduation rate of 97% during her tenure. A highly recognized education leader, Jenkins received a presidential appointment as a director of the National Board of Education Sciences in 2017 and the Baldridge Foundation Award for Leadership Excellence in 2022.