PENSACOLA, Fla. (WKRG) — The Escambia County school board voted Tuesday night to fire the superintendent.

The board voted 3-2 to terminate the contract of Dr. Tim Smith. Board members Patty Hightower and Bill Slayton voted against the termination. Paul Fetsko, Kevin Adams and David Williams supported the termination.

Smith’s last day will be May 31. Keith Leonard, Director of Human Resource Services, will step in as interim superintendent.

Smith was appointed in 2020. There has been discussion about his possible termination in recent months after a few residents complained about graduation rates, the failure of Warrington Middle School which has lasted a decade and some say he should’ve used his power to ban books that they felt were inappropriate.

“It’s just remarkable that you would turn the district into this kind of turmoil at this time,” Slayton said to the board. “This is no time to be doing this. I’m sorry. This is wrong. It’s a surprise at the last minute. I’m very disappointed. I almost want to say there’s been a sunshine law violation. There must’ve been a discussion on this.”