Escambia County superintendent Tim Smith avoided ax last week. He may not be out of the woods yet.

After Escambia County students were exposed to what some parents considered an inappropriate test question, a school board member raised the specter of terminating Superintendent Tim Smith's contract.

The contract issue was sidelined last week when three out of five school board members voted not to engage in any discussion involving the possibility of firing Smith.

However, whether Smith's job is secure remains up the air.

Parents speak to the board: Escambia parents outraged over test question featuring talk of nude photos and suicide

Last minute agenda item: School board may begin discussions of terminating Escambia County Superintendent tonight

Voting not to discuss: School board votes not to discuss possible termination of Escambia County superintendent

District 2 School Board member Paul Fetsko put the topic of Smith's termination on the board's agenda as a last-minute addition. He and District 1 School Board member Kevin Adams voted in favor of discussing the issue, while the rest of the board opposed it.

Asked if he foresaw the issue of Smith's termination coming back before the board at a future meeting, Fetsko said, "Off the top of my head, right this minute, I don't know."

He added, "I do believe that if I don't do it, another board member will. But that, it's just a hunch."

Frustrations grow over student handbook test question

Parents began airing frustrations with Smith's performance at a special meeting of the school board Sept. 15.

The meeting was attended by a group of parents who were outraged over a test question given to all middle and high school students discussing students' exchange of nude photos, revenge and suicide. The question was part of a quiz meant to test students' comprehension of the district's Student Rights and Responsibilities handbook.

Eight parents spoke before the board and expressed their dismay with the test question. They openly questioned Smith's competency and called on the board to fire him.

The parents were assured by the board that the question was removed from the test, but that did not assuage many of the parents' concerns.

The pressure on the superintendent ratcheted up the following week when Fetsko added an item to the board's agenda for its regular meeting Sept. 20. That agenda item, titled "Superintendent Smith Contract," was added less than 24 hours before the meeting and called for the board's approval to "begin discussions on terminating Superintendent Smith's contract."

"My intent was to have the board discuss the leadership," Fetsko later told the News Journal.

"At that point, it was not about terminating or a contract. It was about more of a vote of 'confidence' or 'no confidence' and to open it up for discussion for the board members," Fetsko said.

Fetsko said he had already heard from about 80 people in his district who were dismayed with the test question by the time he requested Smith's employment be added to the board's agenda.

"We can't talk to each other about things because of the Sunshine law," Fetsko said. "So I have no idea what other information board members had gotten from their constituents in regards to this last thing, the R and R handbook."

School district spokesman Cody Strother wrote in email that while the superintendent did approve the administration of the handbook's test, the superintendent did not approve the content of the test.

"I don't have a problem with Tim Smith, and I like him. I was the deciding vote on him getting the job, and I think he has a lot of skills and abilities," Fetsko said. "But what I'm not pleased with is a lack of assuming the responsibility for this school district and everyone under his watch.

"I wanted to find out if other board members would agree with what I'm thinking and saying," he continued. "It was more to put a bug in his ear that, 'Hey, you have a couple of people who've gone rogue, who have done some things that are this causing distress, and you need to deal with these people.'"

Adams, the school board's chairman, told the News Journal it's "impossible to forecast" whether a member will again request that Smith's contract become a discussion topic.

"I won't know until we get there," Adams said, adding, "What I do know right now, just in terms of the current makeup of the board, is that it was 3-2 to not even discuss it."

Colin Warren-Hicks can be reached at colinwarrenhicks@pnj.com or 850-435-8680.

This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Escambia County superintendent job may be future school board topic