When Frederick Hill first stepped onto the Natchez education stage just more than three years ago, he was impressive.

He was talking the talk that Natchez needed to hear.

“I am not satisfied with where we are as a district, and no one should be. We are an F school district, we know that and we own that,” he said in November 2012. “If you ask me can we meet or can we talk, I’ll commit myself to that.”

But now, he appears to be simply hanging on for dear life after a series of abrupt changes in personnel — several of which seem to defy logic or fairness to those involved — and nearly countless attacks on his credibility and personal life have surfaced.

The district now faces two lawsuits over the manner in which former employees were either demoted or outright ousted.

While the district’s test scores have improved a bit, teachers and administrators suggest the tension in the district is thick.

In a bizarre move, the school board voted late last week to renew Hill’s employment contract for another three years, even though the contract had not expired and still has another year left before it would.

The next day the public learned Hill had been in Flint, Mich., only two days prior telling the school officials there, “I did my research on Flint. I really want to be here.”

Clearly the man who came to Natchez with a fire in his belly for fixing the broken school district has had that fire extinguished, and his heart is elsewhere.

School board president Tim Blalock Jr., who refuses to resign his post despite a request to resign from the elected board that appointed him, broke the tie vote to extend Hill’s contract.

Blalock’s vote seems tantamount to a thumbed nose at the board that appointed him. His action ties the school district’s future to a man who clearly is ready to move elsewhere.

Hill recently made the classic mistake that people in the midst of crisis make — he hunkered down and hired a public relations person in an attempt to control the flow of information.

When the district hired its new public relations person, at first I was thrilled. Years ago the district was far more open to the newspaper than it has been in recent years.

Principals welcomed reporters and photographers, and they regularly kept us informed of what was going on in the school district.

The public school district, with approximately 4,000 students and hundreds of staff, always has good things going on in it somewhere.

My hope was that having someone whose job it was to wake up each and every morning focused on the school district’s positive news would be fantastic for the school’s reputation.

Instead the public relations person quickly became a way for Hill to stifle the free flow of information.

Suddenly sports reporters who had good relationships with coaches and assistant coaches had to work days in advance to setup interviews through the new public relations person. Our staff was told the district’s policy was for no one to speak to the media without the administration’s permission.

At the time, all of this added layer of drama seemed merely a waste of taxpayer money and a hassle for our staff. In the weeks ahead the layer of protection made more sense as additional staff changes were made including the ouster of first-year Natchez High Principal Will Smith and long-time Natchez High boys basketball coach Mike Martin.

Martin is a slightly quirky guy, choosing for years to not talk much to the newspaper instead focusing the attention on his players, so it came as no surprise that he didn’t want to talk about his departure or career.

The fear of not following the strict district rules requiring all public comment to go through the spokesperson, meant no co-workers could comment either.

Ironically, when our staff finally caught Hill on Friday and asked about his Michigan job hunt, he was curt.

“All I have to say about that is I am no longer a candidate for the job in Flint,” Hill said.

He wouldn’t say whether he had withdrawn his name or was simply not chosen. His refusal speaks volumes to how much his outlook has changed since he first road into town.

Kevin Cooper is publisher of The Natchez Democrat. He can be reached at 601-445-3539 or kevin.cooper@natchezdemocrat.com.