BENTONVILLE — The School District has completed its review of a matter involving an email written by an administrator urging parents not to support Centerton as the site of a second high school.
Trish Wood, assistant principal at Bright Field Middle School, sent the email May 20. She wrote the better site option would be Bright Road in southwest Bentonville. The School Board voted later that day to build the second high school in Centerton if voters approve a millage increase in September.
Michael Poore, district superintendent, said Wood will not lose her job over the email. He declined to comment on whether any disciplinary action would be taken against her.
“It’s a personnel matter,” Poore said. “I feel good we’ve handled it in a way that is appropriate for what occurred and would be consistent with how we treat our employees and how we’d treat anything like this that happened in the future.”
Travis Riggs, School Board president, discussed the email during the board’s meeting May 20. Riggs said he was concerned the email might have been written using district resources and district time.
“All of these things are no-no’s, and our administration should know that,” Riggs said at the meeting.
Riggs was referring to Arkansas Ethics Commission rules prohibiting use of school resources to promote millage campaigns.
Riggs said Wednesday the superintendent typically doesn’t involve board members on personnel matters, so he couldn’t comment on Poore’s decision.
“He’s made his decision, and I’m going to go with his decision,” Riggs said.
Poore said district officials “explored all avenues” both internally and with the Ethics Commission before deciding how to handle the matter.
Wood has been with the district for 16 years, including four years as an administrator, according to Galen Havner, director of human resources. She was an assistant principal at Lincoln Junior High School for three years and a science teacher at Bentonville High before that.
In her email, Wood said Bill Edwards, Centerton mayor, was promising to pay for infrastructure improvements at the proposed Centerton site. She stated the city doesn’t have that money in its budget.
Edwards said Centerton City Council recently approved spending $1.4 million for roads and infrastructure at the site if voters approve the millage increase.
“We have the money in reserves,” Edwards said.