KNOXVILLE (WATE) – In a letter to the editor in the Knoxville News Sentinel this week, a local parent asked for the Knox County superintendent to leave the district.

“To me, I see it as a no brainier that it’s probably time for him to move on,” said Bill Johns.

He said he was a big supporter of bringing Dr. Jim McIntyre in from Boston for the superintendent job, lobbying for his move to Knoxville.

“It was great to bring somebody in from outside. We needed it in our community at that time,” he said.

But in his letter to the editor, Johns said Dr. McIntyre has peaked, and it’s time for him to move on to the next chapter, and next school district in his career. He said McIntyre has alienated much of his professional staff, especially the teachers, and it’s become a community distraction.

“He has not been able to win the hearts and minds as a cultural fit,” he said. “You’ve got to have the troops behind you to be able to carry out the mission which you’re trying to accomplish.”

Johns said his letter echoed what we have been hearing teachers speak out about for a couple of years: they’re unhappy with the administration. He said without the morale and support from them the district can’t succeed.

“The people that he is leading, well they’re not going to be following him. Their hearts are not into it. And you’ve got to have those evangelists around,” he said, adding that he thinks Dr. McIntyre has done some good things, but does not have enough support to be successful here in the future.

Dr. McIntyre respectfully declined to comment.