MIAMI -- Unhappy about Rudy Crew's performance and refusal to renegotiate his salary, a Miami-Dade County school board member wants the public schools superintendent fired.

Board member Renier Diaz de la Portilla asked the board attorney for a legal opinion "to explore the possibility of firing or terminating the superintendent for cause," he told Local 10's Michael Putney.

The school board met Wednesday afternoon and into early Thursday morning trying to figure out how to cut millions of dollars from its budget. It was 3:25 a.m. when an exhausted Miami-Dade County school board took up their final item -- a motion forcing Crew and board attorney Julie Ann Rico to take a 10 percent pay cut.

"Ms. Rico, are you open to opening your contract?" board member Agustin Barrera asked.

"I'll be happy to sit down and talk to you, but I'm not agreeing to open or change any contractual terms," Rico responded. "But if the board directs you to meet with me I will."

"Mr. Superintendent, are you?" Barrera asked Crew.

"No," Crew replied.

De la Portilla said his effort to fire Crew has the support of three other board members -- Perla Tabares Hantman, Ana Rivas Logan and Marta Perez.

"I think it is deplorable that, you know, the person that makes the most in the district is unwilling to set the example," Perez said.

In a 5-4 decision, the school board voted to eliminate almost 500 jobs in the school district.

Under a plan that will save an estimated $44 million, 317 central office employees will be let go, and the marketing department will be eliminated. Another 75 physical education teachers will also lose their jobs, as well as 30 teachers' assistants and 28 assistant principals.

"Right now, he's making massive cuts in the budget, laying off folks, and he's not willing to cut himself or to cut his bloated administration," de la Portilla said.

Crew is in the fourth year of a contract that will pay him $325,000 and a bonus of as much as $70,000, plus other benefits. His contract paid him $295,000 in his first year, $305,000 in his second year and $315,000 in his third year.

"I wanted to get a better grasp of these legal terms because, under Florida statute, we can fire him for cause and we would not have to pay him the $700,000 that his contract stipulates," de la Portilla said.

"Board members have the right to express their feelings and judge my work in accordance with the outcomes over my four-year tenure," Crew said in a statement Thursday. "This board member has submitted an inquiry to the board attorney regarding a matter which he believes warrants further discussion by the board. I eagerly await the response by the board attorney. I am comfortable that my record of reforms and accomplishments can withstand the scrutiny of the board as a whole."