Decatur superintendent to head Greenland School District

Larry Ben, superintendent of Decatur schools, has accepted the superintendency for the Greenland School District, effective July 1.

School Board President Pat Anderson said Ben was offered the job after he interviewed for the position Monday. The offer was a salary of $100,000 with a one-year contract, Anderson said.

Ben, 55, has been top administrator in Decatur for four years. He taught in Tahlequah, Okla., before moving to Arkansas to become a head football coach in Gravette. He then was an administrator in the Rogers School District for 17 years, including serving as the principal for the Rogers High School Sophomore Campus.

Ben, 55, said he was excited for the opportunity, saying “I have experience and a future ahead of me.”

His strengths center on on instruction, curriculum and academic achievement but his experience in Decatur has developed a knowledge of financial management of school districts. Like Greenland, Decatur has emerged from fiscal distress under Ben’s leadership.

Anderson said Ben’s experience as a superintendent matches qualities Greenland wanted in its next superintendent who will succeed Charles Cudney who has resigned effective June 30.

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