Hours after being berated by the State Board of Education, the Escambia County School Board voted 3-2 to terminate School Superintendent Tim Smith’s contract and install Assistant Superintendent Keith Leonard as interim, effective May 31.
The surprise move came after the board approved an agreement for Charter Schools USA to take over Warrington Middle School – avoiding a 48-hour deadline imposed by the state board that would have put their school board members’ salaries at risk.
The motion was made by Board Chairman Paul Fetsko – typically the board chair doesn’t make motions – and seconded by District 1 board member Kevin Adams. David Williams, the former Pensacola High principal who was elected in 2022, was the swing vote. Williams was the lone dissenting vote in handing over WMS to Charter USA.
Why this matters: The Escambia County School District is left in turmoil three months before it begins the 2023-24 school year. The tongue-lashing given by Florida Department of Education Commissioner Manny Diaz Jr. and the State Board of Education made headlines around the state.
Problem: Superintendent or School Board?
The district has been in the bottom 20 lowest-performing school districts since 2017 – except for last year when it was ranked 48 out of 67 districts. Read District Rankings.
At last night’s meeting, Fetsko criticized Smith’s lack of leadership inside the district. “There is no feeling that they are being led.”
Adams ran through a litany of issues he had with Smith that included leadership, staff shortages, his handling of book bans, and the lack of communication regarding Charter USA and other district problems. “We need to get out of this little mess we’ve been in.”
Smith bristled at the criticism, “There’s something bad that exists here. There’s something toxic that exists here. You all want to fire me; I think the answer would be for the two of you to resign from your positions. What’s the difference, is it you or me, right? I guess you outnumber me.”
Dig Deeper: Escambia County voters passed a referendum in 2018 changing the superintendent position from elected to appointed. The new system put the fate of the superintendent’s job in the hands of the school board – three votes to hire or fire.
Fetsko and Adams tried to put the position back before the voters in the 2024 presidential primary, but Williams sided with Patty Hightower and Bill Slayton Read School Board rejects elected referendum.
At the March meeting, Mayor D.C. Reeves, entrepreneur Quint Studer, hotelier Julian MacQueen and attorney Peter Mougey voiced support for Smith and/or the appointed superintendent model.
“Our citizens voted to give this board the actual authority to put items on the agenda, to make decisions about leadership, and to have the ability to hold the day-to-day operations accountable,” Reeves said. “No data suggests that after two years what our county voted for needs to change.”
Smith’s contract was not on the agenda for last night’s meeting. The community was not given an opportunity to weigh in.
Fetsko and Adams gave Smith positive job ratings last May. Read more.
What’s Next:
To bring the issue back up, Fetsko, Adams or Williams will have to make a motion to reconsider at the next meeting. However, would Smith accept the job if it was offered to him?
The school board will need to vote on its search process for a new superintendent, or it may promote Leonard.
Keith Leonard was considered by many to be the likely candidate to follow Malcolm Thomas as school superintendent had the position stayed elected. (Read Buzz)
He was considered the favorite as the first appointed superintendent, but Slayton gave Smith the nod. (Read Superintendent Shake-up)
Leonard is highly thought of inside the district and has been in charge of human resources since June 2020.
Down Goes Frazier
More on Charter USA Vote
By Tom St. Myer
Months of uncertainty about Warrington Middle School’s future finally came to a halt Tuesday night as the Escambia County School Board approved an agreement for Charter Schools USA to seize control of operations.
Fresh off a severe tongue-lashing from Florida Department of Education Commissioner Manny Diaz Jr. and State Board of Education board members that included putting the school district on a 48-hour time crunch to produce a contractual agreement with Charter Schools USA, the school board relented and approved the agreement by a 4-1 vote. David Williams was the lone dissenting vote. Those who voted in favor of the agreement voiced some reluctance but cited the best interests of the students as the deciding factor.
“I regret with all my heart that I will have to vote in favor of this and I do it for the kids,” School Board Chair Paul Fetsko said. “And then I make the challenge to this school district to get up and do what we can do to make things better and never put ourselves in a position like this again.”
The length of the proposed contract between the school district and Charter USA is seven years. If WMS earns a C in its first four years as a charter, the contract automatically renews for 15 years. DOE informed the school district that Charter USA will be removed from power if WMS fails to raise its grade to a C by the end of the third year, so the fourth year is inconsequential.
Earlier Tuesday, the state board held a special meeting and ruled on possible punishments, including recommending to the Florida Legislature that the salaries of the superintendent and board members be withheld.
“I don’t care about the salary,” Fetsko said last night. “That salary is meaningless if these kids don’t get what they need.”
Last night’s vote on the Charter USA agreement halts the potential challenge of bussing students from the Warrington zone to either Bailey or Workman middle schools. Board members Patty Hightower and Bill Slayton each cited that challenging possibility for why they voted in favor of the agreement with Charter USA.
“Some of the things they’re asking for are not normal charter school requests,” Board member Patty Hightower said. “At the same time, hearing from the attendance zone committee about the hardships that would be imposed on parents with their children being so far from home, I am willing to give Charter USA a chance.”
What Floridians Are Reading This Morning:
This is from the News Service of Florida. The news of Smith’s firing will be circulated later today.
State Turns Up Heat on School District
By Ryan Dailey
TALLAHASSEE — State Education Commissioner Manny Diaz Jr. on Tuesday gave Escambia County officials 48 hours to execute a contract with a charter-school company to operate a struggling middle school, threatening to withhold pay from the district superintendent and school-board members.
The State Board of Education held a special meeting that focused on what’s known as a “turnaround plan” for Warrington Middle School. The Escambia district has been in negotiations with the company Charter Schools USA.
“Over the last 10 years, Warrington Middle School has not once earned a school grade above a ‘D,’” Diaz said during the meeting, also pointing to lagging student performance on statewide assessments.
In a May 5 memo, Diaz wrote that the district in 2019 selected an option for a charter-school operator to assume control of the school, which had tried and “failed for years” under two other turnaround options aimed at improving the school’s grade to a “C” or better. The state board approved a charter-school turnaround plan in 2022.
The Legislature in 2017 passed a measure that allows charter operators to take over operations when a school’s performance has consistently floundered. Diaz in the memo wrote that he found “probable cause” that the Escambia district is violating state law and State Board of Education rules by “failing to timely execute a contract” with a charter-school company.
The district was given a May 1 deadline to execute such a contract. The district on May 1 submitted separate lease and charter agreements with Renaissance Charter School, Inc., which is affiliated with Charter Schools USA. The agreements were signed by Escambia Superintendent of Schools Tim Smith and Escambia School Board Chairman Paul Fetsko, but not by a representative of Renaissance Charter School.
State Board of Education member Esther Byrd on Tuesday pressed Smith about whether he and the district “understand fully that you’re out of compliance with the law.”
But Smith defended what he described as the district’s actions to secure a charter-school agreement.
“The negotiations have been extensive, and there are some challenging points to it all. I think with an agreement like this, we certainly showed effort and urgency with our May 1 action, and this board moved forward with that to push towards finality,” Smith said.
The Escambia School Board was scheduled to meet Tuesday night. Smith told the state board that he intended to recommend approval of a contract with Charter Schools USA during the meeting.
The state board approved a recommendation by Diaz that, if the contract is not approved in two days, the commissioner would report “the district’s failure” to the Legislature and withhold funding to the district in an amount equal to the salaries of the school-board members and superintendent.
Members of the state board rebuked Smith and district officials Tuesday, leading to a tense exchange.
“I find your negotiations to be either incompetent, or completely disingenuous. And I’m just going to call it out like I see it,” state board member Ryan Petty said.
“It really disturbs me that you’re implying we are incompetent and we don’t care,” Smith replied, in part. “There is nothing further from the truth. We significantly care. And it is just offensive that our public is listening to this here, and you’re telling us that we do not care about the children at Warrington Middle School. Sir, that is just wrong.”
Diaz, however, contended that it is “not incumbent upon Charter Schools USA or any charter to comply with state board rule and law, it is the district’s responsibility to comply.”
Last night’s board agenda was massive with 96 separate agenda items. Item #91 was “FY 22-23 Superintendent Evaluation.” I would have thought this matter so important, and potentially so controversial to include in light of the appointed versus elected issue, that it would warrant a stand-alone special meeting after the end of the school year. The agenda item didn’t state which person summarized the individual board member assessments but the summary did not appear to hint at dismissal: Effective (two areas) and Needs Improvement (four areas). An independent assessment by someone with no political axe to grind would have been even better. Perhaps some citizens could review the allegations made by some board members to separate fact from fiction. Rick writes above, “Smith’s contract was not on the agenda for last night’s meeting. The community was not given an opportunity to weigh in.” One the agenda was a discussion about the Superintendent’s evaluation by board members. If Fetsko felt that Smith needed to be terminated, why did he lack the courage to put it on the agenda so everyone could see in advance what he was going? The meeting agenda had been adopted by the board and the meeting was in progress. What is the procedure for a board member to amend the agenda “after” the meeting has started? The School Board has a Policy Manual. It describes how board meetings are conducted. The board’s policy is, “Regular meeting agendas and backup materials shall be posted on the School District website at least seven (7) days prior to the regular workshop.” Further, “All recommendations shall be presented by the Superintendent to the Board.” This is done because the Superintendent is required to certify that “all requirements of law and rule have been met.” The Superintendent does have the authority to modify the agenda prior to the meeting and several items on the original agenda were deleted and others added. Nothing in the Policy Manual expressly allows for new agenda items “after” the meeting has started. What does Robert’s Rules say about it? If the agenda item to dismiss Smith was added in violation of the school board’s policies, perhaps the action is invalid. What does the school board attorney say? Another issue is Assistant Superintendent Leonard’s role. Did he coordinate with Fetsko and/or Adams beforehand or act as a conduit between them? The school district has a Deputy Superintendent. Why wouldn’t that person temporarily take over from Smith?
Having taught in the Escambia County School District for over 30 years, I have worked under several superintendents and experienced the issues of an elected superintendent. An elected superintendent is beholden to his constituents and in order to stay in his position, he must please his electorate. Dr Smith inherited the problems of the last superintendent and in just a short time showed progress addressing the issues. He cannot be expected to change the problems overnight, but the data shows improvement. Education is about the students and should not be about politics. Paul Fesko and Kevin Adams must have a personal agenda; Dr Smith has been the target of Fesko and Adam’s personal ambitions. Last night’s circus is a significant and humiliating loss for Escambia County..