BENTONVILLE — The School Board president expressed confidence she hasn’t violated the Freedom of Information Act, a subject that came up in a discussion of the superintendent’s evaluation at Monday’s board meeting.
Wendi Cheatham, board president, said at the meeting she has been “very careful” regarding the law concerning the public’s access to government information and meetings of policy-making bodies.
At A Glance
Michael Poore
Michael Poore began as superintendent of the Bentonville School District in July 2011. He was given a three-year contract that has been extended by one year each of the past two years. His contract runs through June 30, 2016. He earns $204,500 per year.
Source: Staff Report
Cheatham was responding to board member Brent Leas, who said she and vice president Grant Lightle have sent email to the full board without including the media, in “absolute disregard” of the law.
Rebecca Powers, another board member, said Monday she was scared she might have violated the law. She referred to “inappropriate conversations” she said had tainted the process of evaluating Superintendent Michael Poore.
On Tuesday, Powers clarified that remark, saying Cheatham called her many times and talked about school-related business with her.
“I’ve always been told we’re not supposed to talk at all” outside board meetings, Powers said.
In a statement to NWA Media on Tuesday, Cheatham reiterated she felt she had done nothing wrong.
“I am committed to the guidelines and laws that govern our school board and I would not intentionally do anything that violated those rules or put my role or our kids’ education at jeopardy,” she said.
Powers said she’s unclear on exactly what the law requires and contacted the Arkansas School Boards Association for clarification.
Powers also provided an email written Feb. 8 by Cheatham only to board members and Poore with information pertaining to budget cuts to be discussed Feb. 11.
At the end of the email, Cheatham advised board members to email Poore with any questions and to email her “with any questions or suggestions that will help you in your service.”
John Tull, a Little Rock attorney who specializes in Freedom of Information cases, said email among board members is a gray area in the law.
“What the law doesn’t allow is an email exchange in lieu of a meeting,” Tull said.
Sometimes a board member tries to poll other members about their positions on a matter before a meeting, which would be a clear violation of the law, he said.
Lightle said Tuesday he didn’t believe any board members violated the Freedom of Information Act.
Dozens of people attended Monday’s meeting after rumors swirled the board intended not to extend Poore’s contract. Powers said during the meeting Poore had been “bullied and abused” by the board and she apologized to Poore for letting that happen.
She added Cheatham has wanted Poore to leave the district since she joined the board in 2012.
The meeting lasted nearly four hours before the board went into executive session to discuss its evaluation of Poore. The board emerged 90 minutes later, but didn’t take any action. Leas said the board had a “lively debate” during Monday’s executive session.
The board will meet again at 6 p.m. Thursday to continue their discussion in executive session. The board also met in executive session for three hours during its meeting last week.
Lightle, who has been critical of some of the Poore administration’s policies, declined to answer when asked whether he wants to see Poore removed.
“I can tell you the same things I told people when I was running for the board,” Lightle said. “I think what I intended to bring to the board was an increased level of transparency, including how we spend our money, a focus on fiscal conservatism and increasing and enhancing opportunities for our students. I felt that way then, and I still feel that way.”
There are some who resist any oversight of the district’s spending, Lightle said.
“There’s a strong reaction to just people taking a close look at things,” he said. “That worries me. Usually when someone is resistant to that it’s because the information is something they’re not comfortable with.”
Cheatham said her passion is making a difference for children and their education.
“As many people know, I ran for School Board at a time when I had cancer and was literally fighting for my life because this is so important to me,” she said. “It is unfortunate that the focus has been misdirected as opposed to addressing the real issues at hand. I’m confident that we will all find a way to work together to come up with solutions for our district and not work against each other.”