BIRMINGHAM, Alabama -- The battle over Birmingham schools continues this morning with reports that the locks have been changed on the office doors for Superintendent Craig Witherspoon.

Also, the access badges for all members of the state intervention team, headed in Birmingham by former state Superintendent Ed Richardson, were disabled this morning, Richardson said. The team began working today out of the Tutwiler Hotel, but members now have been allowed back into the central office building.

to end the superintendent's contract in a meeting Tuesday evening.

The board also appointed Samuetta Drew, chief operations officer, as interim superintendent. She is reportedly parked in the superintendent's parking spot this morning.

State school Superintendent Tommy Bice overturned the board's vote; the Birmingham school system is under state intervention and cannot make major decisions that are not approved by the state.

Drew said this morning that the disabling of state officials' access badges was a mistake. Some members of the intervention team have returned to the central office building this morning, but Richardson has left for Montgomery to meet with attorneys there.

Richardson tried to object Tuesday to the board's vote, but Board President Edward Maddox told him he was out of order and threatened to call security if Richardson did not take his seat.

The vote to fire Witherspoon came during a meeting where the board was to discuss the state's plan for cutting its budget by more than $12 million in an effort to start building a $17 million reserve fund, required by the state. School districts are required to keep a reserve fund equal to one month's operating expenses; Birmingham has about $2 million of the $17 million required. The board never considered the financial plan, and abruptly ended the meeting during Richardson's presentation of the plan to the board.

The financial plan eliminates about 200 positions, either through layoffs or demotions. Leaders with the Alabama Education Association and the American Federation of Teachers say the plan takes aim at low-level employees who directly impact the classroom, while keeping in place dozens of highly paid administrators.