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The Escambia County Board of Education extended Superintendent John Knott’s contract at the special board meeting on Mon.

After an evaluation was conducted, the results were reported at the meeting at the Brewton Central office.

“You all are aware of the forms we have handed out. You have all completed those, and they have been returned to me,” said Attorney Bruce Garrett. Prior to the meeting, each board member had received an evaluation sheet regarding Mr. Knott’s performance.

“It was my job to calculate the ratings on each of the catagories-11 different categories. I have received those, and I have done those calculations. I have that information here,” shared Garrett.

After moving into executive session, Garrett presented the results for public record.

“I am pleased to report we have 11 catagories of evaluation. I think it is a very thorough form. I am very pleased to report that the consensus ranking in every category was a 4 or better. The score rankings could be from 1 to 5. I think you should be congratulated on this report. It is certainly one of the highest this board has ever had on a superintendent,” said Garrett.

In response to the score, Knott said, “I appreciate the board working with me. I have always felt like we collaborate well. I feel I have been open to the board and the board has been open to me. I can assure you I fall short often and whenever I do I try to get a new game plan, but I appreciate the consensus of the board,” said Knott.

Next, the board voted to renew the contract for 4 years. “The board has asked me to prepare an employment contract. The contract is exactly the same as existing contract. We did remove one provision,” said Garrett. A unanimous vote secured the 4-year contract. In other business, the board accepted the resignation of Clifford Matthews, W.S. Neal High School teacher. Amber Waters was hired as the elementary teacher for Huxford Elementary School effective March 16. Finally, two students were expelled for one calendar year from the school system, one from Escambia County High School and the other from W.S. Neal High School.