Tonight's vote on whether to extend Knox County Superintendent James McIntyre's contract through 2017 could go a long way toward determining how much confidence the school board has in his leadership abilities.
As of last month, individual evaluations from school board members showed a general degree of satisfaction with McIntyre's accomplishments. However, the superintendent has been under siege lately from angry teachers, who have been showing up at public forums and meetings dressed in red to speak their minds about Common Core, teacher evaluations, achievement tests and McIntyre's leadership.
McIntyre is currently under contract with the school district through October of 2016. He was hired in 2008 to replace Charles Lindsey, whose contract was bought out by the school board.