Bentonville School Board Approves Contract For Superintendent

Tuesday, June 24, 2014

BENTONVILLE -- The School Board approved a new three-year contract for Superintendent Michael Poore by a 7-0 vote on Monday.

The board met in executive session for a little more than an hour before taking the vote in public. The board had negotiated the new contract with Poore over the past four months.

At A Glance

Michael Poore

Michael Poore has been Bentonville’s superintendent since July 1, 2011. Before that Poore was deputy superintendent of curriculum in Colorado Springs, Colo., for four years. Bentonville’s School Board membership has turned over completely since he was hired. His latest performance evaluation, completed by the board in March, gave him an overall rating of 3.36 on a scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being the highest score.

Source: Staff Report

After the vote, board members passed a copy of the contract around the table and each member signed it. Poore also signed it.

"I appreciate everyone's efforts to try to come to a contract that works for all of us," Poore said. "So thank you. I'm excited to continue on."

The new contract takes effect July 1 and ends June 30, 2017. It pays him $204,500 per year, the same as what he is being paid this fiscal year. The contract states the board "reserves the right, but not the obligation" to increase Poore's salary for exemplary performance as measured by the goals outlined in the contract.

The goals are new to Poore's contract. They are broken down into four areas: academic achievement, financial stewardship, strategic leadership and community and public relations. Within each area are at least four items the board would like to see Poore achieve.

Under academic achievement, the board expects Poore to present a plan by October to raise the district's graduation rate for the 2014-15 school year by no less than 2 percent. The district's graduation rate for 2011-12 was 85.2 percent, slightly higher than the state average of 84.1 percent, according to state figures.

"The plan will include proposals for increased ALE enrollment, increased student graduations and decreased student dropouts," the contract states. ALE stands for alternative learning environment.

Among financial stewardship goals, Poore is expected to develop and present by November a 10-year plan for building the district's next schools. He also must implement the year two plan developed as a result of findings from a recent personnel audit and present a plan for year three by next summer.

Under the strategic leadership category, Poore must create and launch an assistant principal academy by September to develop a pipeline of talent for future administrative openings. He also is expected to provide "timely" notice to the board of extraordinary new programs or initiatives requiring board approval "prior to substantial investment of time or expense," the contract states.

A goal listed in the community and public relations section is to develop and implement a community support system called "Bright Futures" that provides "24-hour turnaround to meet student needs to prevent disruptions in academic settings," the contract states.

The board may terminate the contract after July 1, 2015, with the approval of no fewer than five of the seven members. In that case, Poore would agree to accept as severance pay an amount equal to one year's compensation.

Prior to July 1, 2015, and every July 1 thereafter, the board will consider whether to extend the contract by an additional year or years.

The board was weighing Poore's performance in February when rumors spread the board might not extend his contract. That led many community members to show up at board meetings to show their support for Poore. The board voted to negotiate a new contract with Poore on Feb. 20 after spending several hours in executive session.

Wendi Cheatham, board president, briefly addressed the contract issue during the public portion of Monday's meeting.

"We have now entered into a contract with Mike and set some real good goals and now he's going to come back to us with his plan for how to achieve those goals," Cheatham said.

Addressing Poore directly, she said, "We have to let him do his job and I wanted to make sure you understand that we understand that's our role."

Monday's meeting was classified as a board retreat. After approving Poore's contract, the board delved into a discussion of the district's strategic plan.

NW News on 06/24/2014