Dr. David K. Moore, recently named 2025 Florida Superintendent of the Year, and with a track record of transforming schools and districts in urban and mid-size districts, has served as the Superintendent of Schools for the School District of Indian River County (SDIRC) for the past five years. Under his leadership, SDIRC has outpaced and outperformed every other Florida school district, earning consecutive district “A” grades, doubling the number of “A” schools, and for the first time being designated as an Academically High-Performing School District by the Florida State Department of Education. SDIRC boasts one of the highest graduation rates in the state, with 96% of students earning a high school diploma.

Dr. Moore’s five-year tenure, one of the longest in the state of Florida, began just months before COVID struck, and while other Florida districts were grappling with stagnant student performance, Dr. Moore delivered the strongest student performance results that Indian River has seen in the past two decades.

Superintendent Dr. David Moore, who established a reputation in Miami for turning around underperforming schools, leverages his deep understanding of instruction with a results-oriented culture driven by metrics and a data management system that attracts visitors from around the nation. His leadership, a combination of fierce determination to create the conditions for all students to succeed and a constructive impatience with the status quo, has fostered a culture of high-functioning leadership teams capable of delivering unprecedented results. Dr. Moore successfully negotiated multi-year teacher contracts and salary raises and secured one of highest number of votes in the state to support an operating millage, with 75% of voters voting “yes” to provide the fiscal resources needed to expand district supports.

The SDIRC Strategic Plan, one the most ambitious plans in the country, has been a blueprint for transforming systems of support to enhance the quality of instruction in classrooms, establish leadership academies for administrators and instructional coaches, and develop the best-in-class infrastructure to enable data-driven decision-making.

Dr. Moore’s vision for public education on a national scale extends beyond the remarkable transformation he has led in the SDIRC. He envisions a future where public education regains the trust and confidence of families and communities through a focus on developing exceptional leaders and fostering school innovation. Dr. Moore believes that to win back the trust of communities, school districts must focus on creating dynamic educational environments that are not only academically rigorous but also responsive to the evolving needs of students, families, and communities.

Dr. Moore was named the 2025 Florida STAR Superintendent award, earning statewide recognition for galvanizing private sector support and launching The Indian River Education Fund (The Fund). Understanding the importance of creating a vehicle for private sector intellectual and financial contributions in SDIRC schools, the organization boasts a board of C-suite leaders and the county’s largest employers.

A long list of other awards, including 2021 Superintendent to Watch, has been accompanied by acceptance in competitive leadership development programs, including the prestigious Yale University Fellowship Program for Educational Leaders. He completed the Florida Chief Executive Officers-District Leadership Program during the 2022-2023 academic year.

Dr. Moore’s track record of delivering unprecedented systemwide outcomes for students, started when he served as an Assistant Superintendent for Miami-Dade County Public Schools (M-DCPS), the third largest school district in the nation. His leadership of the Miami-Dade Division of Academic Support, coupled with his redesign of the Education Transformation Office catapulted school performance, from 83% of schools being identified as D or F to just 1%.

SDIRC: Data-Driven Accomplishments

• Most improved school district in the State of Florida for 3 years in a row (2021-2022, 2022-2023, 2023-2024)
• Increased 29 state rankings for the District Grade from 2018-2019 (state ranking -38) to 2023-2024 (state ranking -9).
• “Top Ten” Florida School District 2023-2024.
• Grade “A” School District for 2 years in a row (2022-2023, 2023-2024).
• Doubled the number of Grade “A” schools in the District from 2018-2019 to 2023-2024.
• Increased the percentage of Grade “A” and “B” schools from 47% to 95% from 2018-2019 to 2023-2024.
• Increased the Middle School Acceleration rate from 56% (state ranking –20) in 2018-2019 to 87% (state ranking –3) in 2022-2023.
• 96% (state ranking - 3) high school graduation rate for the 2022-2023 school year.
• Designated as a “2024 Florida Academically High-Performing District.”
• Increased teacher salaries from below the state average to the seventh highest in the State.
• Achieved a district cost savings totaling $4,500,303 since the 2019-2020 school year through district downsizing and restructuring.
• Achieved improved Fitch Ratings since 2019-2020 from negative to stable to positive.
• Earned the 2024 Indian River County Children Services Advisory Council Golden Impact Recognition.
• Earned Cognia Systems Accreditation in 2023.
• Earned the Cognia 2023 Values Driven Award of Excellence.