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After Firing Superintendent, School Board To Decide What’s Next At Tuesday Meeting
May 29, 2023
The Escambia County School Board has scheduled a special meeting for Tuesday, May 30 to plan their next steps after voting last recently to terminate Superintendent Tim Smith.
The board voted 3-2, with Patty Hightower and Bill Slayton dissenting, to fire Smith with his final day set for May 31. They also named Assistant Superintendent for Human Resources Keith Leonard as interim superintendent, presumably beginning June 1.
In the meeting, the board is set to determine how to transition to an interim superintendent and how to start the process of finding a permanent replacement. The details of moving Leonard into the interim role were not discussed last week. Leonard and Smith were two finalists for the position, with Smith chosen for the top spot.
The special meeting will take place at 1 p.m.May 30 at the J.E. Hall Center on Texar Drive.
In November 2018, Escambia County citizens voted to move from an elected to an appointed superintendent.
Comments
9 Responses to “After Firing Superintendent, School Board To Decide What’s Next At Tuesday Meeting”
Seems to me that NO ONE on that board are thinking about the students. Too much, too long they’ve been posturing and ignoring real issues. I wish my daughter would allow me to home school them. I retired from teaching in 2007. However, she wants me to relax so I do civics, American History, math, English and grammar.
Paul Fetsko is My Hero and The Dusty Rhodes of The Escambia County School System!! Keep it up Champ!! You are the “AMERICAN DREAM” WE LOVE AND FULLY SUPPORT YOUR EVERY DECISION!!
How can Escambia County blame Mr. Smith for the school system here in this county. He has only been here for 2 years and this mess just been brewing for years. A man that comes from running a school district in Orlando can’t handle this small area Pensacola. Are you kidding me? The good Ole boy system at its best here. Change will never take place in this district if this keeps up. What they need to do is give Mr. Smith his job back.
I personally would fire the whole School board that’s where the problem is..
Not with Mr Smith..
DD – that’s a huge accusation. Can you give some evidence, or are you just slandering? I’m not saying you’re wrong, but I am saying you should back up a claim like that – at least when asked to.
Look no further than the school board members when assigning blame for the failures in education. Career politicians that hang on for ever and folks expect change from those that haven’t changed for the positive in decades. It’s now beyond putting a ‘good person’ in as superintendent as he or she will get cut off at the knees, undermined, and second guessed for every decision. It’s an expensive embarrassment that has taken place and the tax payers and employees of the school district have paid the price. If good teachers go elsewhere why would anyone expect a good leader to step into a mess of dealing with this school board with a target on their back. There should be more firings and/or resignations from those that neglected their jobs and support for the greater need of improving the education in the county.
Seems to me that every year escambia county school district becomes more and more of a joke. Everyone loved a snake in the grass like Malcom Thomas that was padding his and his buddies pockets the whole time. But then wanna blame everything on smith that nothing is changing.
This is exactly what I predicted when the vote for an appointed superintendent passed. Leonard was the heir apprent to Thimas. The machine wanted their man. The optics of making him the first appointment southland look good. They appointed Smith and did everything to undermine him. We are now back on track to the Malcolm era that ruined local education. We need real change and that isn’t coming from going backwards.
Keith’s entire family has devoted themselves to education. Mrs. Leonard was one of my elementary teachers. Keith and I went to school together, elementary through high school. He is a good person who tries to help others learn. In my opinion, he would know what’s best for Escambia schools considering he was raised here. Good luck Keith!