Escambia Superintendent Tim Smith speaks out after termination
Former Escambia County Public Schools Superintendent Tim Smith was not known to be outspoken.
He routinely maintained a calm disposition as he absorbed hours of scrutiny over systemic problems that dominated the Escambia County School Board meetings’ fiery public forums.
Why are kids in Escambia County missing so much school?
Why are kids who are living in poverty underperforming?
Why aren’t teachers returning to the classrooms like they did in pre-COVID times?
Smith was an administrator, not a politician. He answered questions diplomatically, often in line with how the accomplishments on his resume portrayed him: an experienced administrator with a doctorate in educational leadership, a 31-year career with the Orange County School System, and an experienced teacher, vice principal and principal who led his school, Winter Park High School, to be ranked #35 across all high schools in Florida, according to U.S. News and World Report.
When his contract was terminated in a motion from Escambia County Board Chair Paul Fetsko that felt to Smith like “a strike of lightening.” Both Fetsko and by District 1 Board Member Kevin Adams, who seconded the motion, cited Smith’s “failure” in handling heated issues like books ban, student absences and teacher turnover.
Inside Escambia's book battle: Escambia School Board votes to keep 4 challenged books after 7+ hours of debate
ECPS agrees with teacher union: Escambia County Public Schools reaches agreement with union, including $2,000 raise
To Smith, this “failure” was because he didn’t make some of the nation’s most controversial issues simply disappear.
“In my position, I’m responsible for everything … I am,” Smith told the News Journal on Monday. “You can take attendance, for example. I’m responsible for attendance. But it’s really challenging of, ‘How can I make parents bring their kids to school every day?’ Is that my responsibility? Yes. But there’s also another point of this: Am I responsible to go to every household and pick up the child and bring them to school?
“When you have a daily average rate of attendance that’s in the low 90 percentile, that’s a problem. That’s a huge problem,” Smith added. “If a student’s not in school, they’re not learning. I mean, it’s as simple as that. So yes, it falls on my shoulders, but not always do I have control of it.”
He had strategic plan for the 2023-24 school year, as he believed he had at least another year until his contract was up for renewal. He had high hopes the plan would help move the needle.
But he feels the best thing he can do for the district now is give the situation closure and move forward.
“My hope is that the district soars. If it takes me being moved out, then it’s all worth it. Then it was the right call if we can get the next superintendent to be a unifying force,” Smith said. “I hope that the board is able to find the perfect superintendent who can bring everybody together and lead the district in a way that takes the district to the next level.”
What were some of the biggest issues Smith faced?
A lot of the blame shifted in his direction was fueled by frustration, Smith said.
Frustration over months spent waiting for a charter application from Charter Schools USA when the state board of education pressed for updates. Frustration over the divisiveness of book hearings to deal with over 100 books that high school language arts teacher Vicki Baggett flagged for inappropriate content.
In many ways, he was expected to be the person who could make it all go-away.
Challenged books
The school district's multi-tiered book review process, a process similar to what Santa Rosa County District Schools also implements, is process that Adams led as the then school board chairman, according to Smith.
“If I was given the charge to do that, I absolutely could have made those decisions,” Smith said of evaluating school library books. “But what happened, this discussion was held in the boardroom and that is, ‘We have to come up with a policy to handle the books that have been raised as concerning.’ State law drives that. So general counsel said, ‘I highly advise you not to have the superintendent do that, because it does not, in essence, go with the intent of the law.’”
As the public forums grew more hostile, board members criticized Smith for not just bypassing the process and making all the decisions himself.
“I think what being asked of me was to do two things: It was to violate the law and be basically insubordinate to the board’s policy that they set,” Smith said. “I don’t know why any board member would ask me to violate the law or be insubordinate to their policy.”
Smith said by erasing the process, he would also be taking away representation from the districts that school board members are elected to represent.
“I actually think it was very well articulated by a speaker in public forum, who said, ‘I voted for you (school board members) because of your character, your belief system, what you lean (toward), how you make decisions and so forth. I didn’t vote for the superintendent. You hired the superintendent. So, if you’re making these decisions, I want the five different perspectives,” Smith said.
Staff pay and retention
Smith was also tasked with attracting and retaining teachers during a national teacher shortage and mandatory state-wide minimum wage increase.
The salary compression created during the jump to a $15 an hour minimum wage helped with a substantial, yet potentially unsustainable, salary increase for those at the bottom of the totem pole, but little change in the paychecks of the district’s most seasoned veterans.
As much as the district would like to give every employee a several dollars per hour raise, that would put the district in a place of financial instability, according to Smith.
Events intended to boost staff morale, such as the free Christmas movie night at the Blue Wahoo Stadium, only go so far in keeping teachers away from the temptation of a higher-paying job outside of the school district.
“We can’t get into an unhealthy financial situation,” Smith said. “Our goal is to have a certain level of stability and security. Because when you don’t have that, what can happen is your district can get tossed around a bit financially and then you become very reactive. Something happens and then you’re adjusting your whole financial situation. We’d rather be steady and stable than in a crisis reactively.”
As far as the seemingly sudden loss of principals, Smith said that at least four of them had about 37 years of experience and were actively enrolled in the state retirement plan prior to him being hired.
“At the end of five years, you have to retire. All four were in the same spot, they were retiring. So, you’re going to get turn-over there. … Now, certainly you can make a nebulous statement and say, ‘this happened because of you,’” Smith said.
“I don’t agree with that," Smith added. "Maybe I’m wrong, maybe there is a principal who left because of me. That’s possible. (But) I think what is happening is there are a lot of changes taking place in public education ... what it is to be a principal today is very different than what it was."
These 3 bills may have a big impact: These 3 state bills may have a big impact on Escambia schools. One is costing millions.
Charter Schools USA contract secured: Escambia School Board votes to approve Charter Schools USA contact
What does Tim Smith think is in store for the Escambia County school district?
Closing the achievement gap is still the biggest issue for the district today, according to Smith, and not one that can be solved quickly. The gap reflects the difference in academic performance between groups of students — usually minority and low-income students — and their peers.
Despite different efforts, whether it be starting more charter schools or allocating state tax dollars toward private school vouchers, the driving force for inequity is deep in the framework of the public education system, according to Smith.
“I think what you see is people are just grasping for different things to solve problems to see if this works or that works. The reality is — we have a public school system that doesn’t work for all of our kids,” Smith said.
Actual change requires a larger community effort apart from what one person has the capability to achieve.
He said as a community we must help make sure all students are equally ready heading into kindergarten.
“What happens is kids start school, and they’re behind. Now they’re in catch-up mode. That’s very hard for a young child ... I think we need top-notch, highly trained reading intervention teachers and math intervention teachers who work with the most struggling kids in first and second grade … it is their job to get those kids up to grade level by third grade.”
However, giving the students most in need an equitable learning opportunity comes with a price tag, especially if it was a funding change made for districts state-wide.
“For us, that’s 32 elementary schools at 62 teachers. That’s a lot of money when you multiply that out through districts across the state,” Smith said. “I think we could put in all those initiatives; I think we might start to see the gap closing. But what I’m talking about is very expensive, and that’s been the hard thing for our system to do.”
Read Tim Smith's Guestview here: I'm all in for our students. Facts not fiction tell story. | Superintendent Tim Smith
Will the next superintendent follow Smith’s strategic plan?
Smith’s strategic plan was ready to be rolled out into schools, although he will not be there to implement it. The blueprint would guide action in the district from 2022 to 2027.
The plan was influenced by a variety of community stakeholders including Baptist Health Care, the University of West Florida, the Gulf Coast Minority Chamber of Commerce, West Florida Healthcare, Naval Air Station Pensacola, Baptist Health Care, Future Farmers of America and ECPS staff.
“The input we received was gathered from all corners of our organization and our community — employees, parents, community members, and school board members,” Smith wrote in a statement.
The 22-page document was shaped by over a year of research and planning to determine the areas of focus and was approved by the school board in June 2022. The five areas the plan outlines include students, culture, leadership, business and community engagement.
The idea was for every school in the district to have ownership over the plan, customizing it to fit the goals for their unique school, staff and families.
Smith said that he is hopeful that the next superintendent does not abandon it.
“Our next step was to start bringing principals in on this, saying, ‘Here’s your to-do list to have ready for the beginning of the year,'” Smith said. “I was very excited about because quite frankly, I haven’t seen a strategic plan put together and implanted in that way. I think it was going to be very impactful.”
As he waits for wherever he is called to next, Smith said he has no hard feelings toward the school board or district.
“I wish those who voted to remove me, I really do wish them the best and I hope everybody can get back on board and move forward. It’s time for me to leave. It just is,” Smith said. “The one thing I’m very fortunate about is I was able to work with incredible people in the district — our executive staff, our deputy superintendent, our assistant superintendent, our support staff, our principals, our assistant principals, our directors, and division leads … just all the people in our school district are amazing. They’re good-hearted, they want the best for our kids, and they work really, really hard.”
This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Escambia Superintendent Tim Smith talks firing, district challenges
