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Rep. Michelle Salzman Calls For Resignation Of School Superintendent Tim Smith
March 1, 2023
Rep. Michelle Salzman is calling for the resignation of appointed Escambia County School Superintendent Tim Smith in a letter sent Wednesday to Smith and the school board.
Salzman said she has concerns that include “Warrington Middle School grades, military student access to magnet schools, student discipline, Escambia Children’s Trust, workforce development and mental health/wellbeing of the children”.
“On several occasions I offered every resource available to create pathways to success for our students in this community,” she said, including Triumph dollars, workforce development partnerships guaranteeing jobs for graduates, a Mental Health Taskforce, magnet schools for military families and more.
“The list goes on and on, where the community leaders alongside me have literally begged in some cases for our superintendent to take action and he has failed,” Salzman said. “This failure is one that the community must own. Dr. Smith’s inability to be effective is not solely on him.”
Salzman’s call comes as the school district is set to discuss a referendum that would put an elected, versus appointed, superintendent back on the ballot.
“I always promised my community I would be the first to admit my mistake if the appointed model did not work. Having said that, we have only had one appointment. Before I will support changing the appointed model back to elected, the school board needs to hire a leader who can make progress in the district that will bring trust back into the process, empower our parents and our teachers, as well as provide true community collaboration in our schools. Every day that we prolong this transition to new leadership there is a child who is bullied, a child who drops out, a child who attempts suicide, a child who loses hope. We cannot stall any longer. For the sake of our children’s future in Escambia County, we must have a true leader. If our school board as a majority cannot make this choice for our children, I am asking Dr. Smith to make it for them. Save the taxpayers the time and effort, but most importantly, save our children.”
Salzman said the call for Smith’s resignation should come as no surprise to Smith because she has held “dozens of meetings” with him and other stakeholders and members of the community.
In 2018, Escambia County voters narrowly approved a ballot referendum for an appointed superintendent, with 50.36 voting yes and 49.64 percent voting now. This was the sixth time voters had considered the idea of an appointed superintendent in the county; all of the other attempts failed.
The term of then superintendent Malcolm Thomas ended in 2020, and Dr. Tim Smith was appointed as the new school district boss.
District 1 member Kevin Adams intends to present a resolution to the school board on March 21 that, if approved, will officially request a referendum to switch superintendent back to an elected job. The Escambia County Commission would then have to pass a resolution asking the legislature to place the question on the ballot during the presidential preference primary on March 19, 2024.
Comments
39 Responses to “Rep. Michelle Salzman Calls For Resignation Of School Superintendent Tim Smith”
I work out of town a lot. So, I’m hoping someone here can help me understand a couple of things;
1. What problems have suddenly arisen in the past two years? It seemed to me that, when the Previous Superintendent retired, all was well in the school district, save for a few concerns that seemed to have nothing to do with the overall management of the school district. So, what’s suddenly gone wrong?
2. Are the school district problems of the Superintendent’s making or were they there before and are only now being exposed?
Thanks.
Why do we elect a school board? They are elected by us to manage the school system. They hire the superintendent, if he isn’t performing as promised then fire him and hire someone else. The board should stop blaming others and do their jobs. The citizens voted to hire a competent, experienced superintendent to improve our educational system. The board is the problem! Step up and do your job!
“I wonder how many folks realize the the school district is a private business and not owned by the county at all. It’s nothing more than a money machine and your tax dollars pay a private business to run your “education” system. Now who’s interest is being served?”
That is absolutely wrong. The Escambia County School District is a governmental entity. It is NOT a private business.
I wonder how many folks realize the the school district is a private business and not owned by the county at all. It’s nothing more than a money machine and your tax dollars pay a private business to run your “education” system. Now who’s interest is being served?
Have her resign!
Results matter . Let’s give someone else the chance to fail .
The spectacle of Salzman using her office to threaten another public official she has no chain of command authority over exactly underscores the argument for an elected superintendent.
p.s., guessing “CRT” and other inflammatory issues have far less to do with Salzman and friends’ hostility than, perhaps, certain spending choices. The School District has the largest budget in the County. Many, many potential handout contracts for special friends and relatives with expensive, jargon-infused “master plans” for “pathways to success.” Salzman’s mention of Triumph raises numerous red flags.
I voted against appointing the superintendent and am still against it, however, that being said, this man has only been this position a little more than 2 years, dealing with a myriad of issues, none of which were created during his time in office. The cause of the problem is obvious, as it is the same inefficiency that currently stifles the BOCC. Each member is elected to represent a particular district, and in doing so, is beholding to that district if they desire to be re-elected, leaving the entire county with 5 kingdoms that greedily look after their own needs and desires, with very little concern for the county as a whole. Somehow, we must find a way to overcome this error in design by creating at least 2 or more positions where the county’s interests are paramount. Until we do, we will continue to see our county government and educational system degrade to the point that it cannot be repaired.
Why is Saltzman involved? This is a school board matter. Stop angling for free publicity and angering up your base. Resign from the legislature and run for school board.
Comments have lots of opinions and anecdotes, but really low on facts.
@Teacher on March 2nd, 2023 10:30 am
Excellent comment.
Political pandering and attention getting.
My Mom was an elementary teacher for 40 years, so I understand how the school system has been required to deal with a declining quality of student behavior over the years. I think Dr. Smith has been doing what he can in these difficult times. He has made some improvements, so give the guy a chance to make more improvements. Rep. Salzman might be quitting on him too soon. It’s not her jurisdiction anyway.
If any of you actually worked at a school in our district, you would see that the superintendent is the least of our worries. The superintendent doesn’t let middle schoolers vape, he doesn’t give them cell phones with access to snapchat and tiktok, he doesn’t tell the students that they are right and the teacher is wrong, he doesn’t tell them to fight, to bully, to disrespect their peers and adults alike. I could go on and on. Take a step in our schools, you would be shocked. Kids are not here to learn. They are here to goof off, play on their cell phones, and vape. Maybe some of you should worry about how your children are gaining access to these things instead of worrying about someone that doesn’t even make a difference in your kid’s lives in the grand scheme of things.
@Molino Resident
I agree with you to a point. Maybe I didn’t make myself clear enough. I “don’t” object to funding students education through paying taxes. The taxes were raised in order to hire more teachers etc. BUT, I do object to paying taxes to teachers that aren’t teaching what students need to learn so they can contribute to society. I also understand that teachers are told what they can and can not teach. Look at the grades of our public schools for the past year. Some are fantastic and others are deplorable. Those deplorable schools are the ones I’m talking about. I understand there are situations in schools that “can’t” be controlled. By the way, parents are pulling their kids out of public schools and putting them in private schools because of what they are being taught…and it isn’t reading, writing and arithmetic. There are books being pulled out of the libraries that are perverse and have nothing to do with education.
The Super should be an elected position not appointed. Salzman was part of the group that pushed to take away our right to elect a Super. She and others took our right to elect the Super away.
The quality of Escambia County Schools has nothing to do with having an elected Super. Plenty of students from Escambia County have gone on to the best Universities in this country over the years (Naval Academy, West Point, Harvard, Michigan, Stanford, Texas, Vanderbilt, etc. in addition to the usual SEC schools) during the time when the Super was elected. This is about control of the position by a small group to push their social agenda that is not popular with the majority of Escambia County citizens.
Elect the Superintendent!
To JJS,
I agree Elementary Schools do not need Curriculum Coordinator’s. However, I can assure you teachers at the Hall Center are teaching in the schools. Our Department, the teachers have been put back in a classroom are are currently teaching at one of the middle schools. They are also doing work for the lower preforming schools, trying to get them back on track!
Saltzman was front and center pushing to take the Superintendent vote away from taxpayers. A small group of people who know better than everybody else thought they’d install a puppet. Looks like they couldn’t even coordinate that with any competence. Now Salazman is scrambling to get in front of her water carrying disaster. How many comments on this board are her friends confusing the issue by congratulating her on wallowing in her own mess? Voted officials create checks and balances against abuse of power. Extrapolate this incidence up the government chain and you account for current inflation, foreign relations disasters, derailment, crime, etc. Salzman is part of the problem. Please elect people who have accomplished something.
People who sound like they are poorly educated probably shoud not be discussing the educational system. Obviously they lack relevant experience in the topic. Also, electing someone who runs for a position makes that person a politician by definition. I thought people hated those. Try to make up your minds.
There is a lot of ignorance in these comments.
-The vast majority of the books Vicki Baggett is petitioning to remove are not “obscene”. Heck, just look at “And Tango Makes Three”, a picture book that talks about three real penguins that lived in a zoo in New York that she wants pulled from the shelves.
-Critical Theory (and by extension, Critical Race Theory) is an advanced legal theory taught in law school. It isn’t being taught in *any* primary schools in the US.
doesn’t matter if he was appointed or elected ; he failed !
So is salzman telling smith that it Is my way or the highway ?
You can bet that the people on the school board will NEVER admit their error in hiring this guy because none no how to admit they were wrong(with the possible exception of Adams) if you watched the nomination of twit, when the board did it the confusion was obvious. The ONLY thing done right with this board was to get rid of Laura Edler. She was as toxic as it gets and even after her defeat in the elections couldn’t just bow out gracefully. The county gets to elect these folks so why are they all still in office if they’re not doing a “good” job?
Ask Dr. Smith why, in a teacher storage, he has added a Curriculum Coordinator position to the admin in elementary schools. That teacher should be in the classroom as well as all the teachers around the district that are working at the Hall Center and other places in the district. Too many teachers are out of the classroom should be put back in the classroom and Escambia Public Schools would not have a teacher shortage. I was in an elementary school in December. We should never give up our right to vote.
3 – 2 would start the process again.
But that’s not gonna happen any more than a resignation.
Just to clarify. Critical Race Theory is not taught in any Florida public school, and never has been.
More pearl clutching from folks that couldn’t even tell you what CRT is.
So if I understand basic politics correctly, the appointed superintendent works for and answers to the school board, and the school board is supposed to be a reflection of wishes of voters and the community to support the students. The local school board has to answer to the state. Maybe it’s time to get the department of education involved. It is time for the school board to stand with the voters and the community. Thank you Michelle Salzman for taking the first step and putting it in writing, and Kevin Adams for working for the people and listening to their concerns and bringing them forward.
Also, if 1/2 of the people complaining about books would read them, they would then be in agreement that young children/adults need to be protected. Items in these books being challenged reflect things people are serving time for or have to be a registered offender. We as a community need to protect our children. I would be interested in knowing who chose the book committee that are voting to keep the books and was the selection fair or handpicked?
@ Beach Boy – “Something else to consider, why should citizens pay taxes to the school board if they don’t have children in school, ”
The reason that everyone pays the taxes that fund the public school system whether or not they have children is because taxes go to fund the public school system which benefits ALL of society, not just those people with kids. The majority of our society is educated through the public school system so the doctors, nurses, engineers, construction workers, scientists, HVAC Techs, mechanics, electrictians, architects, accountants, teachers, dental assistants, firefighters, surveyors, bank employees, librarians, computer techs, corrections officers, pharmacists etc, etc, etc that you deal with either personally or in other ways such as the roads you drive on, the home you reside in, the electricity you use, the computer you use etc, are dependent on having an educated populace to design and produce all the things, or perform the services we ALL use every day. That’s why we all pay taxes.
There has to be more to this story. If it is so great, why would any county, schoolboard, reject all of the things Salzman has offered. Many things look and sound good on paper but do not work. Please take a very strong second look at these things to make sure that Pandora’s box is not opened. I am all for a good education but throwing money at problems never works.
Not to mention that all those very questionable, and by all reports obscene books found their way into the Libraries on his watch. Who would expect less? Did he not come from VA? Did he not also try to re-name critical race theory and sneak it into our schools like a criminal in the night. I doubt any of these problems would exist under a duly elected superintendent
The school board needs to actually do their job and hold him accountable. Kudos to Rep Salzman, but why is the school board not setting metrics and holding him accountable?
She writes, “Dr. Smith’s inability to be effective is not solely on him.” Name names.
The movement for appt supt has always been sloshing around for Escambia Schools.
From my understanding, a relatively small group of young (?) follks who follow a mega rich dude living in Santa Rosa County were galvanized and pressed forward this last vote to Elect the school Supt in Escambia County.
Tim Smith was handpicked and pressed forward as a candidate who would comply, right or wrong, with mega rich guy.
Now we are in sorry shape with our schools, dropping morale in the ranks and a system of placing people into important positions who have no business being there. Might have been an okay school administrator but no way ready to do finance or curriculum or be in the highest levels.
THANK YOU, REP SALZMAN…..
School Board member Patty Hightower is one member that “HAS TO GO.” I phoned her office after she and two other members agreed to raise property taxes, and stated I would NOT vote for her re-election. I’m not apposed to raising money to support our schools, as long as the teachers are teaching what they need to know. Something else to consider, why should citizens pay taxes to the school board if they don’t have children in school, especially if students are being taught what they need to learn?!?!?
Too many cooks in the kitchen- conservatives trying to shoehorn their policies into education is a recipe that will doom any superintendent.
This is on the School Board- if Dr Smith is not the solution needed, then it’s a simple 3-2 vote to fire him.
We shouldn’t be tossing out the appointed position because Dr Smith isn’t succeeding.
He has failed out kids. Time for a change. Way to go Rep. Salzman
Critical race theory. Banning books. Failing schools. Declining enrollment. Time to go!
Go, Representative Salzman.
Rep Salzman is now making the same promise for a new appointee that was made for the first appointee who failed miserably. Now the same promise holds true as long we the school board hires another one? Salzman-” … the school board needs to hire a leader who can make progress in the district that will bring trust back into the process, empower our parents and our teachers, as well as provide true community collaboration in our schools. Every day that we prolong this transition to new leadership there is a child who is bullied, a child who drops out, a child who attempts suicide, a child who loses hope. We cannot stall any longer. ” That’s a recycled promise.
Thank you Rep Salzman. Take out the trash
On the narrowest of margins the vote passed for an appointed superintendent. Items such as this should take a super majority 60%, like state constitutional amendments. But that train has left the station. Five elected school board members looking out for their own interests… and here we have the dismal result.