Five, not 6, to fire superintendent

I have said this for a long time: A Tennessee school board can fire a superintendent with a simple majority vote - not anything more - no matter what the contract says.

Heck, you don't need a law degree to figure that one out. Still, there's those that argue otherwise. Now, a recent state ruling should put an end to that.

Here's the deal:

The contract for the Knox County Schools superintendent says the 9-member board needs a super majority to fire the system's director (in this case, Jim McIntyre). That means six votes.

State law, however, calls for a simple majority.

Betty Bean at the Knoxville Shopper reports that state Attorney General Herb Slattery early this month said:

“A board of education may not, by contract, limit its statutory decision-making authority by requiring a supermajority vote to approve termination of a director of schools when the statute provides for termination by majority vote. The supermajority voting requirement is unenforceable.”

In addition, county Law Director Bud Armstrong reached a similar conclusion.

You can read her story RIGHT SMACK HERE.

Keep in mind - and this is directed to the anti-McIntyre crowd - just because it takes five to get rid of him, he's probably not going anywhere for now.