Ellen Odom, the general counsel for the Escambia County School Board, has notified the Escambia County Commission that District 1 School Board member Kevin Adams has announced his intention to present a resolution to the School Board at its March 21 meeting to request a referendum to revert to an elected superintendent.
Escambia voters approved a referendum switching from elected to appointed in November 2018, 62,418-61,508. Quint Studer led the charge, with D.C. Reeves managing the pro-appointed initiative. Walker Wilson, former president of Pensacola Young Professionals, rallied his organization to man the polls in favor of the change.
The School Board and the County Commission will both have to pass resolutions asking the state legislature to put a referendum on the Presidential Preference Primary ballot on March 19, 2024.
The Presidential Preference primaries have a much lower turnout that the general election. The 2020 Presidential Preference Primary only had 53,605 votes cast while the 2018 November general election had 123,926 people vote on the referendum.
Here is the draft resolution that the School Board will consider in March:
RESOLUTION OF
THE SCHOOL BOARD OF ESCAMBIA COUNTY, FLORIDA
WHEREAS, Article IX, Section 5, Constitution of the State of Florida, allows that, when provided by resolution of a district school board and approved by vote of the electors, the district school Superintendent shall be employed as provided by general law; and
WHEREAS, Article IX, Section 5, Constitution of the State of Florida, provides that such resolution may be rescinded after four years; and
WHEREAS, Section 1001.461(3), Florida Statutes (2022), provides that a district which has adopted an appointive method for selecting a superintendent may, after four years, return to its former status by resolution requesting the Board of County Commissioners to place the proposition on the ballot at a general election or a statewide primary or special election; and
WHEREAS, in 2018, the electors of Escambia County, Florida, affirmed a resolution by the School Board to make the Superintendent an appointed position; and
WHEREAS, four years having elapsed, it is appropriate to allow the voters of Escambia County, Florida to determine whether the Superintendent should remain appointed or should return to an elected position affirmed in a partisan election to a term of four years by vote of the qualified electors residing in Escambia County, beginning with the general election in 2024.
WHEREAS, Section 1001.461(2), Florida Statutes (2022), provides that the Board of County Commissioners, upon request from the School Board, must cause the proposition to return the office of Superintendent to an elected position to be placed on the ballot at a general election or a statewide primary or special election.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SCHOOL BOARD OF ESCAMBIA
COUNTY, FLORIDA, THAT:
The Board of County Commissioners of Escambia County, Florida, is hereby requested
to place on the ballot for the Presidential Preference Primary election, held on March 19, 2024, the following
proposition:
ESCAMBIA COUNTY SCHOOL DISTRICT REFERENDUM
Shall the Superintendent of Schools of Escambia County, Florida, be elected by a majority of the qualified electors of Escambia County, Florida?
Yes
No
CJ:
“Is anyone going to find out what happens when a federal court order expires? Someone must know.”
–Your ironclad memory of that meeting contains a convenient lacuna, Alison Rogers’s stated legal opinion that redistricting in a way that drastically lowered the percentage of Black voters in County District 3–a percentage that resulted from the federal order in part–would most likely be deemed unconstitutional and illegal. In addition, there were speakers at the podium to assure that in the case of any BCC trying it, they would be justifiably slapped with another lawsuit in a hot minute. Perhaps you were in the bathroom during the multiple times the topic of the unconstitutionality of diluting Black votes came up. While DeSantis and his fellow fascists in our legislature clearly could care less about federal law, the Florida constitution, people’s constitutional rights, or wasting millions of dollars on taxpayer funded lawsuits resulting from their political stunts, I find it refreshing that we have a County Attorney who is attentive to the idea that Black voters are still clinging to some constitutional rights in some corners of Florida. You would have a good many racists and white supremacists statewide as allies in trying to bring a change to dismantle District 3, though. Thank you for alerting the community to the fact that, if such tactics as you outlined were attempted, we’ll have you to thank for running the Viking hammer up the flagpole.
“The county and school board (and ECUA) election districts were also gerrymandered to protect the incumbents. ”
–Hardly. Stephen Barry’s district barely changed, Lumon May maintained the Black voting percentage previously mandated by federal order by gaining a western neighborhood to offset the gentrification forcing a mass exodus of Black voters from the City, Robert Bender’s voting makeup changed very little, and Jeff Bergosh took on huge political liability with Perdido Key being returned back to District 1 as a correction to WD’s gerrymandering. ECUA doesn’t have to follow the BCC/School Board districting, and is free to set its own districts. Maintaining the same boundaries for all is a blessing to voters and the Elections Office alike, and it was David Stafford’s office who requested a chunk of the changes to the District 3/District 4 borders for better consistency with County-City.
“In October 2021, the Florida Association of Counties had instructed them that a district can be contiguous if parts are separated by water. Instead, the BCC put Pensacola Beach (District 4 South) in District 4.”
–Nice wording with that “put.” Because of course Pensacola Beach “remained” in District 4, which is indeed a somewhat strange arrangement that the current BCC did not set. It was impossible to assign the Beach to District 2, however, as even with losing the Perdido Key population, District 2 still had to give up additional population to keep it within proper equivalence with the other districts. Dropping District 3 to the water might have worked, but that would have grossly upset the balance of the Black vote, given how the City has pushed so much of its Black population out of its limits–and most recently the Tanyards–as an effect of continuous, unbridled gentrification within the City limits.
“Chairman Bergosh then got on his high horse and instructed the masses that what the BCC had done complied with the letter and spirit of the Florida Constitution. It did not.”
–It did. Are there lawyers and judges who would nonetheless argue and rule it didn’t? I’m sure there is a federalist sitting the bench somewhere that would be happy to blow away the positive effects of a Black voting district in Pensacola, given the chance.
If it happened, we can add it to the mess of unconstitutional legal outcomes on a state level that Mark Elias will just have to keep overturning, and contribute to the general statewide legal mess that will take decades to correct. That’s if and when Florida voters ever wake up out of their stupor, realize they have voted themselves into a white Christian nationalist oligarchy, and decide that *isn’t* an atmosphere they want their kids and grandkids raised in.
All the above raises some interesting issues. For starters, the actual law seems clear and unambiguous that if the school board adopts a resolution to hold such a referendum the role of the commission is purely ministerial as in – “shall cause….” The resolution is poorly drafted. An attorney needs to review and fix it so that the language matches what is in the state law (Section 1001.461). As just one example, the resolution uses the word “must” when the Florida Legislature used the word “shall.” Be precise. Section 1001.461 refers to “4 years.” It might be useful to ask the Florida Attorney General if the four-year period begins to toll when a vote is held to change to an appointive superintendent (in 2018) or when the school board gets the authority to make the appointment (in 2020 when Superintendent Thomas left office). As a related matter, can the school board adopt the resolution before the position has been appointive for four years or must it wait until after four years have passed. The only opinion I have found related is AGO 2019-01. It clarifies that the change such as ours took place in 2020. Meanwhile, the big unresolved issue relates to something that County Attorney Alison Rogers told the BCC and school board on November 2, 2021. The occasion was a joint districting meeting. Rogers advised that there was “not” a requirement to racially gerrymander District 3 because a federal court order had expired decades ago. How long ago? Who in the county government and school district knew and covered it up? Is anyone going to find out what happens when a federal court order expires? Someone must know. The county and school board (and ECUA) election districts were also gerrymandered to protect the incumbents. They all said so. The BCC also boasted that they had politically gerrymandered the districts too to maintain the desired ratio of four Republican districts and one Democrat district. You would have thought that might have attracted some pushback from the local Democrats. It got worse. The BCC “joked” about how they had also gerrymandered the county districts so that three of them covered a part of the city, that only covers 4% of the county, and ensured that two were Republican and one Democrat. The BCC also violated the Florida Constitution requirement that election districts be “contiguous.” In October 2021, the Florida Association of Counties had instructed them that a district can be contiguous if parts are separated by water. Instead, the BCC put Pensacola Beach (District 4 South) in District 4. There is no way to draw a straight line from District 4 South to District 4 North without passing through Santa Rosa County or another Escambia County district. Chairman Bergosh then got on his high horse and instructed the masses that what the BCC had done complied with the letter and spirit of the Florida Constitution. It did not. State law also allows voters to elect the school board chairperson (Section 1001.364). That seems a good idea. Holding the referendum on the same date as a Presidential Preference Primary seems a very bad idea. Better to hold it as a stand-alone special election preceded by public debates and forums and using the vote-by-mail method with pre-paid ballot return envelopes. (Voter turnout in 2018 was 61% with 7,000+ undervotes on the referendum issue and margin of victory of less than 1%.) As for the cost, presume the school district should have to pay the cost of the referendum since it would be the one requesting it.
Funny how quickly people forget.
Smith came in around the fall of 2020…anybody remember what was happening then? A global pandemic that nobody was prepared for and rolled all the way into 2021-2022 school year.
Right after that, you have massively heavy-handed and poorly worded state policy changes that local school districts had to decipher on their own under threat of removal or litigation.
Not to mention the usual stuff of managing a school district with, what, 30-40% of kids in poverty, a nationwide teacher shortage, changing state testing standards, and all that fun stuff.
Our schools have struggled for decades. Anybody who thinks one person, in the midst of a global pandemic and a constantly shifting policy environment, can change that in two and a half years is just not being honest.
Neither elected nor appointed superintendent is a guarantee to have a competent person in that position. However, some in our community have been trying to politicize or schools and are using this to politicize them even further. Although I haven’t been wowed by Tim Smith, I recognize some have put him in a nearly impossible position. He’s at least qualified for the position and seems to be doing his best under the circumstances. Frankly at this point I don’t trust the school board to pick someone better, and I think it’s likely electing this position would stick us with someone much worse. If anyone needs replaced it’s Kevin Adams who’s been an embarrassment to this county for too long.
Pueschel is way off base. The appointed Referendum didn’t hire the superintendent – the school board did. They’re his boss and they should handle him as an employee. This is a failure of leadership at the school board.
I agree with Melissa and Frank.
Pueschel, fevered REC hysteria aside, two honest questions for you.
1. The voters consistently returned a superintendent who either couldn’t or wouldn’t (or both) fix our schools for a dozen years as the school system consistently deteriorated. On what do you base your belief that simply returning this position to the polls will fix our schools?
2. Why not first insist that the 5 officials who HAVE been elected actually do the job they were elected to do, and either (a) support the superintendent they chose, rather than constantly throwing him under the bus for their own political longevity; or (b) put it on the agenda to vote on whether to replace him?
If you or somebody else from the area’s radical arm of the GOP brain trust can’t provide some very good answers to both these questions, then Adams bringing this resolution is nothing but pathetic pandering–gifting himself and his fellow school board members with the dangerous affections of our extremist “culture warriors,” while providing the Board with a path to totally abnegate their own responsibility. And most sensible people on any side of the aisle–right, left, up, down, or kitty corner–will recognize it as exactly that.
I’m in complete disagreement with Kevin Adams. This is a school board issue. They are over the superintendent and district and it looks as if Kevin Adams is trying to pass the buck. He needs to do his job and hire the right people!
There is something dreadfully wrong with Escambia County schools. We have a school closing, the lowest graduation rate in the history of Escambia County and the surrounding counties, and violence so bad that a school was placed on lockdown. It doesn’t matter if you’re Republican or Democrat, nobody thinks this is good. These are nonpartisan issues that are devastating this school district.
The campaign to go from elected to appointed was grossly misrepresented. The campaign was that an appointed superintendent would be someone who has the background and experience to turn the district around and to raise grades, have fewer disciplinary actions, and to bring innovative concepts and ideas to better the district as a whole.
An appointed superintendent was supposed to have cutting edge ideas on how to move the district forward and implement the tools and concepts to solve the problems.
We haven’t seen any new concepts or ideas to solve any of these problems. The problems have only gotten worse.
We have sexually explicit books, that are against the law, that the superintendent has a great unwillingness to do anything about. He’s OK with the district breaking the law. The school district is worse off now than it ever has been. Teachers getting hit, hair pulled, kids pummeling each other almost to death, Failing grades, uncontrollable fights, disciplinary actions, the lowest graduation rates, schools closing, — are the opposite of what we were told we would get from an appointed superintendent. The experiment didn’t work. It’s time to go back to elected.
We want a superintendent who works for the voters, not the school board. He’s protected, he can continue to wreak havoc on the school district and as long as he has at least three school board members who blindly think Escambia County is doing great, this school district will continue to fail and get worse and worse.
The model has failed. We need to go back to an elected superintendent.
So, let me get this straight.
(1) Kevin Adams is absolutely incompetent in every regard other than recognizing his own incompetence.
(2) He doesn’t have the moral fiber, courage, or wherewithal to do the job his constituents voted him to do, even if he had the ability to do it.
(3) He has so little self-pride that he is willing to feed his culture war howlers into a frenzy so they can storm the ballot box and erect the sacred cow of whoever DeSantis chooses to lord it over him.
Given it likely that at least one of the above three statements is valid, then the rest of the School Board should not only vote down his resolution, but Patty Hightower, Bill Slayton, and David Williams should pull Paul Fetsko out of that Chair to get the Dunder Twins’ powers deactivated.
Psst….Escambia voters, here’s a well-kept secret…get ready for a shock:
IT’S THE SCHOOL BOARD THAT CAN’T MANAGE OUR SCHOOLS.
Which Adams is–laughably–admitting with trying to deploy his own incompetence into a populist win.
Is Tim Smith doing a stellar job? No. Could somebody else do better?
Perhaps, although it’s impossible to gauge anyone’s full potential in this climate, and dealing with this Board. Moreover, we can’t even engage that question without defining the desired outcomes.
Does the School Board want to improve our schools?
Or do they want a cutthroat DeSantis despot to shelter them from having to make further displays of their own ethical and intellectual cowardice, someone who will just go ahead and ban all the books for them?