BENTONVILLE -- Debbie Jones -- a former state Department of Education high-level official -- has been named Bentonville School District superintendent.
The Bentonville School Board chose Jones on Monday night after it reviewed applications and watched videos of nine candidates chosen by a national search firm.
As School Board members discussed each candidate, Jones' name kept surfacing in the conversation, School Board President Travis Riggs said.
"We don't often agree unanimously on anything," Riggs said. "We feel like she is the right face and the right leader for our district."
Bentonville's School Board began a superintendent search after the departure of Michael Poore, who became the state-appointed superintendent of the Little Rock School District. The Bentonville School Board in May named Jones as interim superintendent of the district of more than 16,500 students.
Jones joined the district in February as deputy superintendent. She previously was the Arkansas Department of Education's assistant commissioner for learning services. She has worked for several school districts. In Bryant, she was an assistant superintendent and, previously, principal of Bryant High School. Jones is also a former Pulaski County Special School District employee, serving as principal of Robinson Middle School and Jacksonville Middle School, and later as director of secondary education at Pulaski County Special district headquarters.
Bentonville follows Fayetteville and Rogers in hiring a new superintendent.
In Fayetteville, Matthew Wendt is the new superintendent after the retirement of former Superintendent Paul Hewitt. Marlin Berry has succeeded Janie Darr after her retirement from the Rogers School District. Both Wendt and Berry began working for their respective districts this month.
In Bentonville, Jones will earn the same salary as Poore, which was in the $200,000 range, Riggs said.
When the School Board called Jones into the closed meeting, they told her they didn't see any other candidates with her qualifications or abilities, she said.
Metro on 07/16/2016