Nocatee, Florida — Governor Ron DeSantis on Friday put forward Dr. Henry Mack to become the state's next schools chief, tapping a longtime Florida higher-education official and current federal labor appointee for the job.
The move follows the departure of Commissioner Anastasios Kamoutsas, whom DeSantis named president of Polk State College. Dr. Paul O. Burns will serve as interim chief while the transition proceeds.
Mack previously led several divisions within the Florida Department of Education from 2019 to 2023, overseeing the state college system, career and adult education, vocational rehabilitation, blind services, and workforce and independent-education programs. In his current role as U.S. Assistant Secretary of Labor, he has pushed policies that connect classroom learning with job training, expand registered apprenticeship programs, and aim to reduce waste in the unemployment insurance system.
Nocatee is an unincorporated community in St. Johns County, southwest of Jacksonville and part of the fast-growing First Coast region. State education policy set in Tallahassee shapes funding, standards, and workforce-readiness programs that reach classrooms across the county's public schools.
