MUSCLE SHOALS — The city’s school board will hold a special meeting Monday at 5:30 p.m. at the board of education auditorium to decide whether to renew superintendent Jeff Wooten’s contract.

The issue was on the agenda for the Feb. 18 meeting but wasn’t addressed due to time constraints for some board members. That meeting was preceded by a work session with the topic on the agenda, but when board president Pam Doyle called for discussion, there was none. Board member Mike Elliott was not in attendance.

A crowd of about 50 residents, many of them school system employees, expressed their concern and in some cases, anger, over what they perceived to be the board’s non-renewal of Wooten’s contract.

Doyle said Monday’s meeting will not be a “free-for-all.”

“It will be a controlled meeting, by the rules,” she said. “It’s a called meeting that allows for board discussion only, unless the board chooses to allow public comment. I tried to allow everyone wanting to speak on Monday, to do so. We went above and beyond to hear the public’s comments. This decision is not about Jeff Wooten, it’s about what’s best for the students.”