Pine Bluff leaders ask to meet over schools chief’s dismissal

— A group of Pine Bluff business leaders is encouraging the Pine Bluff School Board to hold a public meeting to discuss the firing of Superintendent Jerry Payne, who was told last month by board members that June 30 will be his final day on the job.

Payne has served as superintendent for less than a year.

A clause in his three-year contract gives the board “the right to terminate this agreement without good cause effective June 30 of any year of this contract by giving 120 days written notice.”

Board members have refused to discuss any details of the firing.

George Makris, president of M.K. Distributors, which distributes beverages in Pine Bluff and southeastern Arkansas, said he and others in the community would like the board to be more open about Payne’s dismissal.

“There is just a lack of good information throughout the community regarding the superintendent position,” Makris said.

“It’s highly unusual that someone who was just hired and is not even through his first year before his contract is terminated. And there has been no information from the School Board about a reason. Personally, I think the School Board owes the public an explanation.”

Board President Herman Horace issued a firm “no comment” last week when asked about the possibility of a public meeting to discuss Payne’s firing.

Horace also refused to comment on the search for a new district leader.

The School Board had met in executive session last month but never took a public vote to dismiss Payne.

State law requires a public vote. Arkansas Code Annotated 25-19-106 (c) (4) states: “No resolution, ordinance, rule, contract, regulation, or motion considered or arrived at in executive session willbe legal unless, following the executive session, the public body reconvenes in public session and presents and votes on the resolution, ordinance, rule, contract, regulation or motion.”

In all, 10 people, including Makris, former Pine Bluff Superintendent Frank Anthony and Tommy May, chairman and chief executive officer of Simmons First National Corp., signed a letter requesting the public meeting.

It was delivered to the board at its regular monthly meeting held Tuesday. The board took no action regarding the letter but did vote to retain legal council in the wake of Payne’s firing.

Lou Ann Nisbett, president and chief executive officer of the Economic Development Alliance of Jefferson County, also signed the letter.

Nisbett said the request for a meeting isn’t meant to judge or condemn the board for its actions against Payne.

“We just want to ask questions about why he was terminated,” she said. “Just put it in the public so the board can explain this.”

Nisbett said she has worked closely with Payne on a leadership program that’s installed at two Pine Bluff elementary schools. She said she’s worried that the program could be in jeopardy without stable leadership at the district’s top level.

“He has been so great to work with, and I just want to see these programs continue,” Nisbett said of Payne. “This is such an important issue, because our school system is a vital part of our community.”

Makris concurred.

“There aren’t too many institutions more important to the future of this community than the Pine Bluff School District,” Makris said. “Whether the board thinks it or not, people are extremely interested in how that school district is going to develop itself over the next several years, and we want to be a part of it. That’s what we expect.”

Payne said the action of Makris, Nisbett and other business leaders in Pine Bluff “speaks for itself” andhe wouldn’t elaborate when pressed to share his feelings about a public meeting to discuss his recent firing.

He did say he was appreciative of the leaders’ efforts, however.

“My firing has gone all over the world on the Internet,” Payne said. “It’s impacted me as a professional, in terms of my integrity and my career. I still do not know why I was fired. I am still seeking the answer as to what precipitated all this.”

Payne said he has retained an attorney but declined to discuss specific plans to deal with his termination.

“We are looking at procedural due process at this time,” he said.

“I came here committed to do this job, and I will finish the task given to me if given the opportunity. If not, on June 30, I will move on as a person who has passion for what I do. I will wish this district well, and I will never have ill feelings toward this district.”

Northwest Arkansas, Pages 12 on 03/24/2012

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