BENTONVILLE — 9:37 a.m. update: The School Board came out of an executive session held to discuss the superintendent's contract at about 11 p.m. Monday. It did not take any action but announced plans to meet again at 6 p.m. Thursday to continue the discussion.
The meeting will be held only to go into executive session again, said Wendi Cheatham, board president. She did not say whether any action would be taken after Thursday's session.
Monday's board meeting drew a large crowd after rumors swirled the board would vote against extending Superintendent Michael Poore's contract, which is set to expire June 30, 2016. The board typically renews the superintendent's contract for an additional year every year at about this time.
Thursday's board meeting will be at the School District's Administration Building at 500 Tiger Blvd.
A School Board member on Monday told a packed meeting room the board’s process of evaluating Superintendent Michael Poore had been “corrupted,” adding she was ashamed of her and other members’ behavior.
“I and other members have allowed shameful activities to occur,” said Rebecca Powers, who apologized for tearing up while she spoke. “I sat here and allowed Mr. Poore to be bullied and abused by the board. I’m sorry I allowed this to happen.”
What’s Next
Board Meetings
The Bentonville School Board’s next meeting is a pre-agenda planning meeting at 5:30 p.m. March 6 at the district’s Administration Building, 500 Tiger Blvd. The next regular monthly meeting is on March 17.
Source: Staff Report
She added she had allowed Wendi Cheatham, board president, and Grant Lightle, vice president, to manipulate her. She also said Cheatham has wanted to get rid of Poore ever since Cheatham joined the board in 2012.
The board later voted 5-2 to enter executive session to discuss Poore’s evaluation. The result of that private session was not available as of press time Monday.
Powers also made a reference to email being exchanged among some board members without sharing them with the media. She added she was “scared to death” she may have violated the state’s Freedom of Information Act.
In response to Powers, Cheatham said she wished she had had advance notice of what Powers was going to say.
“I will repeat what I’ve heard (former board president) Becky Koonce say. The president acts presidential,” Cheatham said. “I appreciate your comments, but I don’t have the exact things to say to that right now.”
Poore became the School District’s superintendent in July 2011. His contract runs through June 30, 2016. The board votes annually, usually at this time of year, on whether to extend the superintendent’s contract by a year.
The last time Poore’s contract was extended was last March as part of a package of personnel matters. The board voted 5-2 for that package. Cheatham and Lightle were the members who voted against it.
Rumors the board would vote against extending Poore’s contract led many to attend Monday’s meeting. During time allotted for public comment, 11 people spoke favorably of Poore. Nobody spoke against him.
Among those who spoke were former board members Koonce, Travis Riggs and Bryan Vernetti, all of whom served on the board when Poore was hired.
Vernetti said Poore was hired following an exhaustive search by the board.
“He’s someone I feel comfortable at night knowing is at the helm of this organization,” Vernetti said. “I am a fan of Mr. Poore.”
Riggs, who resigned from the board in September, said the board and community should support Poore. He even declared he would run again this fall for his old seat — now occupied by Lisa Clark — if he wasn’t satisfied with the board’s performance.
“Mike, you’ve done a great job,” Riggs said to Poore. “I know it’s tough, but Mike came from a situation that was a lot worse than this.”
Others like Tammy O’Keefe, the mother of two children in the district, said she’d been impressed by Poore’s leadership.
“He’s responsive to parents’ concerns. He always provides direct and honest communication,” O’Keefe said.
Poore did not comment on the matter during the meeting.
Cheatham first brought up the subject of Poore’s annual evaluation at a meeting in November. The board met in executive session at that time in part because Cheatham said she wanted to make the board aware the evaluation process was coming.
During a meeting last month, board member Willie Cowgur suggested some of his fellow board members should resign because they had “hidden agendas.” He said those board members have caused morale to sink among district administrators.
Also at Monday’s meeting, Powers made a motion, seconded by Brent Leas, to re-elect board officers. Powers later rescinded the motion, however, after board attorney Marshall Ney advised that decision may be made only once per year.