Editor’s note: The original version of this article contained incorrect information about the alleged alienation of affection lawsuit Trustee Benny Wright references. The current version is correct. We regret the error and are happy to set the record straight.

NATCHEZ — On day two of former Natchez-Adams School District superintendent Frederick Hill’s post termination hearing Thursday, his legal counsel continued to argue trustee Cynthia Smith was biased and started to argue trustee Phillip West came in with an agenda against Hill.

Hill was terminated in April based on the return from a federal jury that he violated the civil rights of former district principal Cindy Idom.

Smith, whose testimony continued from the June 28 first day of the hearing, said she had no hard feelings against Hill for non-renewing her daughter Shannon Doughty’s contract. Doughty had been an assistant principal for the district before Smith served on the board. An Adams County Circuit Court judge decided Doughty could not sue the district for wrongful termination in her court. Doughty is appealing that decision.

Former board president Timothy Blalock, whose term ended in February, and current board member Benny Wright, however, told a different story about Smith’s interactions with Hill when it was their turn to take the stand.

Blalock said during board meetings, Smith was generally cordial with Hill, but hints of hostility could be seen when she would occasionally get testy with Hill when asking questions.

“Maybe I was reading too much into it,” Blalock said. “As an attorney, you try to read people.”

However, at the Adams County Board of Supervisors meeting he and Smith attended in the summer of 2015, Blalock said then he saw she was openly hostile toward Hill.

Blalock said during that meeting, in which he said she seemed to be attempting to represent the board rather than just herself as an individual, she brought up at least two things that were untrue.

The three Morgantown academies were not created to manipulate the data, Blalock said, and the ninth-grade students only did not take algebra I because they had already taken it in the eighth grade.

Further, Blalock said Smith was disciplined on the way she represented the board to the supervisors during executive session at the next school board meeting, at which she offered to resign.

Wright said he was ready to offer the motion to accept her resignation, but he was dissuaded by fellow board members.

The eight-year trustee said he started to suspect she had a grudge against Hill when she presented a letter to the board before the superintendent’s 2014 evaluation, just months after Smith was sworn in.

Wright said the last bullet point on her letter concerning a lawsuit of alienation of affection brought by the husband of one of the district’s assistant principals cemented for him that Smith was trying to undermine Hill’s character in the community.

“I found it extremely disrespectful,” he said. “Counsel found no evidence of such a suit.”

Further, Wright said she claimed in that letter Hill had caused a firestorm with his personnel decisions the previous spring, one of those decisions being the non-renewal of Smith’s daughter.

Morale also could not have been at an all-time low as Smith claimed, Wright said. At that time, he said the district performed a survey of employees that gave the administration high approval ratings.

Hill’s attorney, Lisa Ross, asked Blalock if he had told the superintendent that West, who would replace Blalock on the board, was planning to seek Hill’s termination.

“I do remember stating that I had heard there was a movement in the community to remove (Hill) for whatever reason,” Blalock said.

Following an objection, Ross said to hearing officer Nathaniel Armistad of Brookhaven that the board’s argument is weakened if the jury verdict is the reason for termination if, in fact, West had conspired to terminate Hill months before the verdict was rendered.

Ross also brought up the superintendent’s evaluation that was conducted in December and signed in late February, after the Idom jury rendering was final in late January. Regarding morality and ethics, Hill received satisfactory remarks.

Blalock said the board was aware of the jury rendering when they signed the evaluation. During the evaluation discussions, Blalock said Smith showed no hostility toward Hill.

After listening to Wright’s testimony, NASD attorney Terry Caves of Laurel asked the trustee directly if he had already made up his mind that Hill should be reinstated.

Wright said he could be swayed to vote against Hill, but it would take a large amount of evidence he had not heard to this point.

Despite the court’s findings, Wright said based on what he heard from the other principals, Hill never harassed Idom. The other former employees of the district who testified against Hill in the Idom case were also disgruntled.

Wright said Hill was a great leader who innovated many programs that are proving to be successful in the district. He said Hill was a good recruiter and was open with the community.

“I don’t think he should have been terminated,” Wright said.

The board of trustees ultimately make the decision of any restitution Hill will be paid or if he will be reinstated. The hearing was tentatively scheduled to continue at 9 a.m. on July 22, with Aug. 5 also selected as a tentative fourth date, if needed.