Resignation Follows Portable-Classroom Flap

By Kerry A. White

The superintendent of the Orange County, Fla., schools has announced his retirement after weeks of controversy about dilapidated conditions of modular classrooms in the district.

Donald Shaw said earlier this month that he plans to leave June 30, a year before the end of his contract, but added that his announcement was unrelated to criticism about the portable facilities.

He has been under fire since a story last month in the Orlando Sentinel detailed problems with the county's 2,000 modular classrooms. Many are waterlogged and rotting because of design flaws, the newspaper reported, and repairs and replacement are likely to cost the...