Randy Rutherford, a former superintendent of the Bryant School District, will be the new principal of North Little Rock High School-West Campus as the result of a 5-0 vote of the North Little Rock School Board.

Rutherford, who will replace interim Principal Ken Kirspel at the school, resigned as the Bryant superintendent earlier this year as part of a separation agreement between him and that district's School Board. The Bryant board has never said publicly why it wanted to remove Rutherford from that job.

North Little Rock Superintendent Kelly Rodgers said in an interview after the North Little Rock board vote that Rutherford was the top choice of a committee of district teachers and administrators who interviewed a half-dozen finalists for the position, which will pay $98,337 annually. Rutherford earned $155,000 as superintendent of the Bryant district.

Still, Rodgers said his own decision to recommend Rutherford to the board was a difficult one. The Bryant board suspended Rutherford on March 10. Ultimately the board and Rutherford came to a "separation agreement," the outcome of which included Rutherford's May 13 resignation and his promise not to sue.

After careful checking with other superintendents and the Arkansas Department of Education staff, plus attending a state Legislative Joint Auditing Subcommittee meeting that focused on financial matters in the Bryant district, Rodgers said Thursday he was confident that Rutherford is a man of integrity. He said he would be "very surprised" if anything came out against Rutherford.

"He is 100 percent the right person to lead our school at this time," Rodgers said. "This campus is undergoing major change, and he is an exceptional leader who fits the needs of the district and that campus," he said.

North Little Rock High School-West Campus is undergoing an extensive, $90 million building renovation and expansion. The school now serves grades 11 and 12 but will eventually accommodate all ninth- through 12th-graders in the city.

Asked why Rutherford had to resign, Rodgers said it was his understanding -- from others besides Rutherford and Bryant School Board members -- that the resignation was based on financial matters that happened in Bryant under Ruthford's leadership.

State auditors found that a former Bryant district business manager -- Richard Stipe -- opened a rewards credit card and made other fiscal decisions and transactions that went unchecked by Rutherford.

"Everyone I talked to says there was no wrongdoing," Rodgers said about Rutherford. "He stood up and said, 'This has gone wrong.' At that point they started investigating finances in Bryant.

"Simply put, from everything we could tell, it was an unfortunate situation that occurred with him in that district," Rodgers said.

Rutherford, who is a former assistant principal at Little Rock Central High and principal at Little Rock's J.A. Fair High, said Thursday night that he was pleased to be hired.

"I'm ready to get back to work with kids," he said. "I'm excited about what they've got going in North Little Rock. I think North Little Rock is headed on the right path."

Metro on 06/20/2014