Escambia Voters May Decide Between Elected Or Appointed School Superintendent

June 20, 2018

Should the Escambia County school superintendent be elected or appointed?

That’s a question that voters may see on this year’s general election ballot.

The Escambia County County Commission will hold a public hearing at 5:31 p.m. on June 21 to consider an ordinance authorizing a countywide referendum to be held on the November 6 ballot concerning the appointment of the school superintendent in Escambia County. The superintendent would be appointed by the school board.

The county is considering the referendum at the request of Superintendent Malcolm Thomas. The Escambia County School Board approved a resolution in support of the request on April 17.

Comments

13 Responses to “Escambia Voters May Decide Between Elected Or Appointed School Superintendent”

  1. Wally on June 23rd, 2018 2:11 am

    Elected or not escambia has a long track record of poor sup’s. Remember Jim Paul the guy who got a DUI while on a school trip? To many Malcolm Thomas stories to mention…. voters need to make the decision since this person serves the people of escambia county just like the school board does. power to the people to elect and remove as needed.

  2. Paul W on June 22nd, 2018 12:22 pm

    Lots of comments here about “Good Ole Boy” and “Cronyism”

    Y’all ever stop to think that our local newspaper has for Decades always pressed for an Appointed Superintendent? Their “Editorial staff” no matter who is or was the Superintend of Schools has howled and yapped about APPOINT by the School Board.
    This issue has even been on the ballot before with Escambia County Voting Citizens Always choosing to ELECT who is the leader of our public schools.
    SCHOOL BOARD Members would be the ones to choose their Superintendent of Schools, and Not the County Commission as some have suggested.
    The County Commission and the Escambia County School District are two Totally Separate Constitutional Entities. No flow between them unless somehow agreed upon by both parties.
    Y’all are RIGHT, we DO need to have Civics and History and the Office/Department knowledge of YOUR Government taught to the Citizens.
    Please get your facts before you jump overboard.

  3. Concerned on June 20th, 2018 9:40 pm

    First of all this stinks of cronyism and good ole boy politics. If the current superintendent wanted out of his job he could merely step down from it. The only other reason he would be asking for this would be to protect his job.
    Secondly how dare any of our elected officials entertain taking away voting rights of the citizens that put them in their position. Shame on all of you!
    I would say that not only should you vote for your right to vote, you should vote the shameful officials who support this referendum right on out of office.

  4. Anne on June 20th, 2018 8:36 pm

    VOTE VOTE VOTE
    After decades of being associated with the ECSD my experience is that we have elected several School Board members who are not competent enough to hire a Superintendent.

    One of the past School Board members was a teacher and thought they could continue to receive their Teacher Salary while serving on the Board. Since the Board sets salaries for employees that would have been a Direct Conflict of Interest. NOPE, you took a Big Pay Cut to be on the Board, should have done your homework.

    Have known other Board members who were interested in much more than the betterment of the Students, Education and Schools.

    I want to VOTE for School Superintendent as the Community has input where with an Appointed ( by the BOARD ) Superintendent answers only to the School Board.

    VOTE VOTE VOTE

  5. Bonnie Exner on June 20th, 2018 7:22 pm

    BEFORE I GIVE UP MY RIGHT TO VOTE,I HAVE 2 VERY IMPORTANT QUESTIONS…
    I.WILL A MINIMUM CRITERIA OF JOB QUALIFICATIONS BE WRITEN AND CIRCULATED FOR CONCERNED CITIZENS TO REVIEW??
    2.IF FOR SOME LEGITIMATE THE ECSD DECIDED TO TERMINATE THEIR SELECTION BEFORE THE END OF HIS/HER TERM IN OFFICE,..WILL THE TAX PAYERS BE LIABLE FOR 2 SALARIES..THE TERMINATED ONE AS WELL AS THE NEW APPOINTEE??

  6. Richard on June 20th, 2018 6:58 pm

    Please keep the vote. Over to your west in Baldwin Co. we have “appointed” superintendents, and boy has it been a nightmare. Currently we have a good one, but before this one we had a circus clown who was from “out of town” and had some hi jinks on and off the clock till he was run out of town on a rail.

  7. Becky on June 20th, 2018 5:59 pm

    “Appointed” . . . So now we are communists?

  8. Bob C. on June 20th, 2018 3:26 pm

    You will be voting, because of the Florida Constitutional Revision Committee on
    TERM LIMITS FOR FLORIDA SCHOOL BOARD MEMBERS…

  9. Sandy on June 20th, 2018 2:55 pm

    This was voted on in the late 70s or early 80s. It was decided then that we wanted to keep it as an elected position.

  10. just sayin on June 20th, 2018 10:20 am

    NEVER GIVE UP YOUR RIGHT TO VOTE!!!!!!!!!! NEVER

  11. Jimmy on June 20th, 2018 10:03 am

    The fact that Malcolm Thomas is requesting this makes me suspicious of him. Why do I get the feeling that he is already part of a good ole boy network?

  12. Renee Cook on June 20th, 2018 9:29 am

    I feel its our right to vote officials in, our children are attending these public schools! We should have a say in who is over them. Not someone who is put in place due to friendship, favor or certain credentials. We need intellectuals with morality integrity and truth to help, lead these young people not label them.

  13. Bama54 on June 20th, 2018 8:11 am

    Sounds like this could become a good ole boy appointment. What is the harm for voting on a superintendent. It makes the candidates get out in to the communities to ask for your vote and you get to know them. I don’t want my county commissioners deciding “who” they think is best to run our school system. Voting is the only fair way!!