Decatur superintendent suspended
Posted on Thursday, July 3, 2008
URL: http://www.nwanews.com/bcdr/News/63384/
DECATUR — In a move to keep Decatur schools open, the school board suspended Superintendent Dave Smith with pay and appointed high-school principal Bobby King as acting superintendent.
The decision was announced at a special board meeting Wednesday night as part of a plan to keep the Decatur School District from being annexed into another district.
“ We didn’t feel he was leading our campaign (to keep the schools open ) aggressively enough, ” school board president Michael Wilkins said in explanation of the board’s decision to suspend Smith.
Wilkins said Smith has done a good job for the district and did not want to implicate that he has done anything wrong.
The decision to appoint King was made because the school board felt he would step in and fight to keep the district from being annexed, according to school board member Donald Morgan.
“ It’s absolutely the right decision. He’s the one who will take us back to where we need to be, ” Morgan said.
As part of the plan, Wilkins said the board has spoken with three financial consultants to help with the proposed budget but would not be ready to name which consultant the district would choose to work with until Monday.
The focus of a consultant would be to find out what the district needs to do in terms of budget cuts and to help come up with a financial plan that would meet the Arkansas Department of Education’s approval.
Wilkins said state Sens. Kim Hendren, R-Gravette, and Dave Bisbee, R-Rogers, promised to support the district, as long as it puts in its best effort. In a show of support, Hendren attended the meeting.
Wilkins said the board has also been in contact with Dr. T. Kenneth James of the Arkansas Department of Education. According to Wilkins, James does not want to annex Decatur into another district if another solution can be found.
“ They haven’t abandoned us, and they’re not trying to trick us. They want us to have a school, ” Wilkins said of the ADE.
Smith is under a threeyear contract with the district, but Wilkins said a decision on how to handle that issue will not be made until after it’s determined whether the district will stay open.
An auditor from the Arkansas Legislative Auditing Committee is still in the district and is expected to stay for at least another four weeks, according to Terry Burden, who has stepped in to help with the district’s accounting.
Wilkins said the auditor is conducting both a special audit and a regular audit covering the 2006-2007 and 2007-2008 school years.
He explained that the ADE is looking at how much money the school district has, while the auditor is trying to find out the details of where the money has gone and why it is gone.
The board is not looking to blame anyone for the district’s situation right now, Wilkins said.
“ That will be done at the appropriate time, ” he said.
Kim Beggs, mother of two Decatur students, brought up 2006 audit reports during the meeting, questioning if they could have been a warning to school officials.
The audit findings state under reportable conditions, “ Errors were prevalent in the accounting records. Specifically, discrepancies were disclosed in the following areas: revenues and receipts, bank reconciliations, expenditures, journal entries, capital assets and documentations. ”
Smith told board members the errors were minor and procedural when he explained the audit report during a board meeting last October, according to an article in the Oct. 17, 2007 issue of the Decatur Herald. In a recent interview, Smith said the findings really had no meaning. Wilkins expressed on Wednesday that the school board was not aware at the time if the findings were significant. Newly appointed superintendent Bobby King promised the school board and community members he would fight to keep the district open.
“ When I go to Little Rock, I will be fighting tooth and nail” he said. “ We will make this thing work. ” Applause broke out in the room as parent Becky Arnold said, “ I want to thank school board members for the way you are handling this. ” She grew emotional as she told the gathering of community members that kids have been asking her what can be done to save their schools. Arnold said she is planning a meeting for 6 p. m., July 7 at the picnic tables in front of the high school to help students find a way to keep the schools open. She invited community members to attend as well.
Dr. Lenvil Abercrombie also spoke up in the meeting, telling community members that the Decatur Education Foundation is starting a fund to help keep the district open. Donations are tax free and can be made at the Decatur State Bank, he said.
As the meeting came to a close, Wilkins said, “ Let’s let the state and kids see our support. We want to let them know, don’t write us off yet. ”