New Superintendents Join Elkins, Lincoln Districts

First days on job go smoothly

Mary Ann Spears arrived for her first day as the Lincoln School District superintendent to find she had no office.

Summer maintenance includes thoroughly cleaning and waxing the floors in the central administration office.

Meeting Information

School Boards

The newest superintendents in Washington County will attend the next school board meeting.

• Lincoln: 6 p.m., July 15, Central Administration Office, 107 School Ave.

• Elkins: 6 p.m., July 16, Central Office, 349 N. Center St.

Spears took it in stride and spent Monday and the next few days floating as she met with department heads and principals. One of her first assignments is finding her replacement as Lincoln High School principal.

The post is advertised on the district’s website and the website of the Arkansas Association of Educational Administrators. Spears received a three-year contract and a $110,000 annual salary when she was promoted to superintendent.

Dan Jordan spent the last weekend in June moving from Benton to Fayetteville and the first few days of July meeting patrons in the Elkins School District where he is the new superintendent.

The walls in his new office were lined with boxes waiting to be unpacked.

“I’m looking forward to our future,” he said. “There are no bumps or lumps in the road. The priority is getting the high school opened.”

He plans to meet soon with faculty, staff and school board members.

“My sense is they bleed purple here,” he said. “My interest is to get hold of the rope and pull in the same direction.”

Jordan, 55, has been an educator for 31 years, at the college and secondary levels. He was the director of student support services in the Benton School District before moving to Elkins. He received a two-year contract with a $113,000 annual salary.

Spears said she plans to meet with community members after the start of the school year. She said it’s important to revisit the school’s mission and vision. Communication with the community has been a weak link, she said.

Spears, 49, is also a member of the Washington County Quorum Court. She said she plans to move into the Lincoln School District and will resign as justice of the peace.

She was hired at the high school as assistant principal in 2006 and was promoted to principal in 2009. She taught math and business in Farmington for 12 years. She is a candidate to receive a specialist degree in educational leadership from Arkansas Tech University in December. That degree level is required in Arkansas to be a school superintendent.

Spears succeeds Clay Hendrix, who resigned to become an assistant superintendent in Springdale. Jordan replaces Megan Witonski who left Elkins to become the assistant commissioner for learning services at the Arkansas Department of Education.

Upcoming Events