At its meeting on Thursday, July 10, the Board of County Commissioners will consider accepting the Escambia County School Board’s request to have voters reconsider whether to make the school superintendent’s position an elected or appointed position.
Why? By 3-2 vote, the School Board approved a resolution to do so on Feb. 18. “Section 1001.461(3), Florida Statutes (2024), 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.”
- Board members Tom Harrell, Kevin Adams and Paul Fesko voted in favor. Board members Carissa Bergosh and David Williams were opposed.
Harrell was elected to the board in August 2024 with 59% of the vote, replacing long-time District 5 board member Bill Slayton, who chose not to run for reelection.
- “At that time when I was campaigning, this whole community seemed to be focused on this,” Harrell said at the Feb. 18 meeting. “It started when I was collecting petition cards, and everywhere I went, that was the number one issue on people’s minds was elected superintendent. They had a not so good feeling about what had happened to us before.”
In 2019, a referendum to make the school superintendent an appointed position passed by 910 votes (0.7% of the vote). City residents overwhelmingly supported the change.
District 4 School Board member Carissa Bergosh, who represents much of the city, said she heard a different view while campaigning. “I’m unable to support this resolution. I spoke to many people in this district and in the community as well, and they are all for appointed. The appointment came through our voting in 2018. The county spoke 2018. The school board revisited it in 2023. It also did not pass, so the appointment is the way to go.”
BCC CHOICES
The public hearing can be:
(a) authorizing a County-wide referendum to determine if the Superintendent of Schools of Escambia
County, Florida, should be an elected position to be placed on the General Election Ballot on
November 03, 2026, OR
(b) authorizing a County-wide referendum to determine if the Superintendent of Schools of Escambia
County, Florida, should be an elected position to be placed on the Statewide Primary Election Ballot
on August 18, 2026, OR
(c) authorizing a County-wide referendum to determine if the Superintendent of Schools of Escambia
County, Florida, should be an elected position by special election with the date set in 2026 at the
discretion of the Supervisor of Elections to meet compliance with state election laws
BACKGROUND
In March 2023, the Escambia County School Board resisted putting the superintendent back in the hands of the voters.
School board members voted 3-2 against a resolution to put the superintendent on the election ballot during their meeting Tuesday in front of a standing-room only crowd at the Hall Center.
Three of the school board members balked at ousting Superintendent Tim Smith in September after then board chair Kevin Adams added discussing his termination to the meeting agenda. Those same three board members, Patty Hightower, Bill Slayton and David Williams, struck down the resolution brought forward by Adams.
“The people in my district are sending me emails or calling me and they’re in support of an appointed superintendent,” Hightower said. “I’m going to continue to support the appointed superintendent. What we have to do as a board is learn how to give direction to the person we have hired, and we have to know how to evaluate that person effectively, so we know the job is being done and our students are benefiting from that leadership model.” Read more.