STEPHENS — The Stephens School Board voted unanimously Monday night to suspend Superintendent Darrell Porter until further notice.
Board President Erma Brown had no comment when asked the reason for the decision.
Arkansas State Police at Troop F in Warren confirmed Tuesday that it had a report on file of a driving-while-intoxicated arrest involving Porter during the weekend, but the person answering the telephone would provide no further details.
The action to suspend Porter came after a 25-minute executive session. After the board had met, Porter was called into the executive session.
When the board reconvened in open session, it announced Porter’s suspension and took a recess to allow him to remove items from his office. Porter was suspended with pay, and board members said his annual salary is $85,000.
Porter then left the building and was unavailable for comment.
Mary Thomas, the recently hired high school principal, was named interim superintendent. She has taught in the district on two previous occasions.
Porter was serving as Bearden High School principal when he was hired by the Stephens School Board in April 2011. Before becoming principal at Bearden, he had been superintendent of the Smackover School District, where he was fired after state police arrested him Oct. 17, 2008, on a DWI charge.
He later pleaded no contest in Union County to first-offense driving while intoxicated, according to an El Dorado News-Times article that also reported two counts of endangering a minor and driving left of center were not prosecuted.
Arkansas, Pages 13 on 07/27/2012