The Jasper School District has appealed the verdict in a wrongful-termination lawsuit that a former Oark principal filed against it and won.
Johnson County Circuit Judge William Pearson ruled in May that the district’s decision to terminate Anita Cooper nearly two years ago was “without just and reasonable cause.”
In June, Pearson awarded Cooper $64,998 plus $30,000 in attorney’s fees, according to court records and Cooper’s attorney Suzanne Clark.
“We thought the judge’s ruling was well-considered and very much on point,” Clark said.
The decision was appealed on June 21 to the Arkansas Court of Appeals. The notice of appeals asks the appellate court to send the case to the Arkansas Supreme Court.
Kerry Saylors, superintendent of the Jasper School District, said he respects Pearson’s opinion.
“After the judge’s ruling, we requested that our insurance company settle the matter, and they declined our request, and we have appealed the ruling to the next level,” Saylors said.
The district is insured through the Arkansas School Boards Association, and the insurance is underwritten by a Chicago company.
“We would like for this matter to be behind us,” Saylors said.
Cooper was employed at Oark Schools for 29 years, court records state. She was a teacher until 2002, when she became an administrator. When she was fired, she was principal over all Oark schools.
Oark schools became part of the Jasper School District in 2004.
In her last year with the district, Cooper was employed under a contract for an annual salary of $74,200.
Shortly after the 2011-12 school year started, Cooper submitted a grievance because she was not allowed to create the master schedule for the Oark campus and was “written up” by former Assistant Superintendent Wanda Mann.
On Sept. 9, 2011, Saylors removed Cooper as principal of Oark Schools and assigned her to the Kingston campus as principal of in-school suspension, court records state.
A little more than two weeks later, Saylors notified Cooper that he had found her grievance invalid, that he was suspending her with pay, and that he would recommend that the School Board terminate her contract. Her employment with the district ended Nov. 30, 2011.
Pearson said the district’s actions violated the Teacher Fair Dismissal Act, which applied to Cooper because Cooper was not given notice of the change in her assignment, which the judge describe as “a meaningless and useless position.” No students were assigned to in-school suspension when Cooper was assigned as the Kingston principal of inschool suspension.
“Her commute distance was increased significantly by two and half hours as Kingston is located a considerable distance from the Oark campus,” Pearson wrote. “The reassignment was unreasonable and constitutes a non-renewal of her contract … ”
Her termination was tied to alleged “irregularities in the Oark master schedule,” according to court documents. District administrators did not conduct annual performance reviews of Cooper nor bring to her attention problems outlined as reasons for termination or assist her in correcting them, Pearson wrote. The scheduling issues were resolved, the judge wrote.
Northwest Arkansas, Pages 10 on 07/24/2013