ALBANY — A city school board meeting turned into a public skewering session and at times erupted in shouts and a near physical confrontation Thursday night after the community learned embattled Superintendent Marguerite Vanden Wyngaard planned to quit.

Dozens of residents, community leaders, elected officials and clergy lambasted the board for its contentious relationship with the school chief over the last 1 1/2 year, and warned them any trust they had in their ability to govern had been destroyed. The outpouring came just hours after board President Kenny Bruce said Vanden Wyngaard would be placed on paid leave starting Friday and longtime Myers Middle School Principal Kimberly Young Wilkins would be as acting superintendent.

He said the decision came after the board and superintendent could no longer "overcome our philosophical differences" about how best to implement change.

"You set her up for failure," said Common Council President Carolyn McLaughlin. "There was no support. You supported her for about 18 months and then you decided that all bets were off. I don't know who's coming in next, but what you did to Dr. V, you'll do it to them."

Sources confirmed Thursday that the board gave Vanden Wyngaard an option of leaving now with a payout or being fired without one. She chose the former, and will get paid leave and benefits through the end of her contract, which expires June 30. Last year, she was the second-highest paid superintendent in the Capital Region, with an annual salary of $197,527.

Vanden Wyngaard admitted she and the board had come to an impasse in her resignation letter.

"In order for a board of education and superintendent to have a high impact to change the trajectory of learning for students and especially for those of color, we must be united in our focus, deliberate in our actions and trusting of each other to move mountains for our students," she wrote. "Clearly we are at an impasse and it is time for me to step aside so that you can continue in this new direction for the students of Albany."

Residents criticized the board for continually ignoring their pleas to keep Vanden Wyngaard in place, especially while the district has three schools at risk of an outside takeover under the state's new receivership law. Many expressed dismay at what they see as racist undercurrents on the board and a return to the "status quo" in Albany. Some speakers also expressed worry the decision could hurt the chances of the Feb. 9 high school referendum.

The meeting included more than two hours of comment from the public, who one after the other condemned the board's lack of support for Vanden Wyngaard. Just two people who spoke out expressed support for the superintendent's resignation.

One man, who criticized district graduation rates and lamented single motherhood in the city's black community, approached and almost touched longtime board member Rose Brandon as she was correcting his statements and was quickly fended off by a group of people. After a shouting match with the crowd, he was escorted out by security.

Vanden Wyngaard's fate has become a source of contention in the community in recent months, as the school board has largely remained silent over its decision to let her contract expire at the end of June. Just two members — Brandon and newcomer Vickie Smith — have spoken out in support of the superintendent.

Wilkins was named acting superintendent, as she has the longest leadership tenure of any district principal, Bruce said. She has been employed by the district since 1994, and has served as an administrator since 1997. The board will work to appoint an interim superintendent over the next few weeks, and Wilkins will be considered, Bruce said. The position could come with a pay boost, but one has not yet been approved by the board, he said.

The board will also move quickly to conduct a national search for a new permanent superintendent, he said, and will seek community input and involvement along the way.

Vanden Wyngaard arrived in the fall of 2012 as the district's first permanent black female superintendent. She had previously served as deputy superintendent of schools in Paterson, N.J. One of her campaigns since taking the Albany position has been to address institutional racism in the schools, which generated backlash within the district, community members have said.

"I came here because the students of Albany have had academic challenges and it's what I'm called to do," she said during her swearing-in ceremony. "I certainly didn't come to Albany for a short tenure. I came here to see this work through."

The board is made up of four white and three black members, though support for her hasn't split strictly along those lines. Bruce, who is black, was elected board president this month, and has revealed his own tensions with the superintendent during public exchanges at board meetings.

The board's support for her seemed to splinter in 2014, after new hires were made in the superintendent's cabinet and an audit found $215,000 in undocumented services had been billed to the district by a Minnesota-based consultant. Bruce said Thursday the resignation was not the result of the audit and that the board had not found any misconduct on Vanden Wyngaard's behalf.

New board member Vickie Smith said she had seen the superintendent's personnel file, which includes annual and midyear evaluations by the board, and couldn't find a reason not to extend her contract.