Superintendent Tim Smith spoke frankly this morning on WCOA 1370AM about the need to listen to all segments of the community. He wasn’t discouraged about the attempt to have a discussion regarding his contract placed on the school board agenda yesterday.
“This is a school district that is the school district of all the residents in Escambia Count, and that’s a very critical element to the concept of our public school system, to the framework of our district,” said Dr. Smith. “And so it’s imperative that we have opportunities for people to be heard and for concerns or celebrations to be lifted.”
He pointed out the challenge of having different viewpoints. “As we debate issues, sometimes they’re difficult topics. Sometimes they’re tough conversations. But I think one of the things that we’re struggling with and we’re fighting through and we’re trying to navigate on a national level is this concept of when we see things differently, how do we handle that in a healthy and productive manner.
Smith continued, “The key is being unified in that, finding common ground, being respectful to each other, and understanding that every person matters. And that’s a framework that we are striving for every day is the concept of every person matters. And so we’re all about unity for every student to succeed. That’s our vision statement and every student is so important, and we try to do the best we can.”
He hopes to learn from recent incidents. “Are we perfect? No. We’re people. We’re people, so we’re not perfect. And when we’re not, we need to reflect, we need to analyze, and we need to improve. That’s part of our nation’s fiber is struggling and fighting through tough situations, but doing it as a united people.”
Escambia County Commissioner Lumon May also weighed in on the vote and his discussions with Dr. Smith.