Little Rock School District interim Superintendent Dexter Suggs resigned Tuesday, effective immediately, as part of a settlement and severance agreement that provides Suggs with a payout of nearly $250,000 by Jan. 1.
State Education Commissioner Johnny Key named Marvin Burton -- deputy superintendent of the Little Rock district -- as interim leader.
Suggs' resignation from the state's largest district comes one week after Little Rock attorney Matt Campbell, author of the Blue Hog Report online blog, accused the two-year superintendent of plagiarizing parts of his 2009 doctoral dissertation at Indiana Wesleyan University.
In his blog, Campbell identified sentences and paragraphs in the dissertation that were identical or nearly identical to passages in other, earlier writings by others who were not listed in the 12-page reference section of Suggs' dissertation. Suggs had said Monday that "everything was above board" in his doctoral studies and he did not feel like he "intentionally committed any fraud or plagiarism."
"The Arkansas Department of Education will work with the Little Rock School District to provide the high level of educational services required by the Arkansas Constitution," Key said in a 9 a.m. news release announcing Suggs' resignation and the four-page settlement. "Through this period of transition, we will work in a collaborative way with teachers, administrators, staff, and the community."
Key said later Tuesday that in discussions over the past few days, there was mutual agreement between him and Suggs that there was "a need for a fresh start" and that the time had come for that.
"We were able to negotiate a separation agreement that was amenable to both parties," he said.
Asked why the state would take the unprecedented step of agreeing to a payout for a superintendent leaving a state-controlled district, Key said, "There are a lot of things unprecedented here because we have never been here before. This is a unique situation. You are plowing new ground with every decision that is made. That is where we found ourselves today."
The payout to Suggs will come from Little Rock School District funds, said Kimberly Friedman, a spokesman for the Education Department.
Suggs, 46, couldn't be reached Tuesday morning at his office or by cellphone or email.
The Little Rock School Board hired Suggs, the chief of staff in the Indianapolis public schools, as superintendent in March 2013, and he officially began work on July 1 of that year.
The Arkansas Board of Education changed his title to interim superintendent when it voted 5-4 on Jan. 28 to take control of the 24,000-student district and dismiss the seven-member locally elected School Board. The state takeover was based largely on the fact that the 48-school district has six schools labeled by the state as academically distressed in which fewer than half of students scored at proficient levels on state math and literacy exams over a three-year period.
The four-page settlement and severance agreement between Suggs and Key provides $41,708.50 in salary to Suggs and $4,500 for transition expenses to be paid within 10 days.
Beginning July 1 and ending Jan. 1, Suggs will be paid $50,500 every two months -- on July 1, Sept. 1, Nov. 1 and Jan. 1, unless the payments are forfeited in accordance with the terms of the agreement.
Should Indiana Wesleyan determine that academic dishonesty occurred in the preparation of the dissertation, the range of possible consequences includes the revocation of the doctoral degree by that institution. If Suggs' doctoral degree is revoked or otherwise nullified, the settlement agreement states that the "Employer" will have no obligation to pay any remaining unpaid amounts that would otherwise be due to Suggs.
Reaction
"Letting someone resign instead of firing always comes off as the coward's way out," said Campbell, Blue Hog Report blogger. "That is sort of irritating in and of itself, and then the payout is pretty absurd."
But Campbell said he is thankful for the clause in the settlement that stops payments to Suggs if his doctorate is rescinded.
Cathy Koehler, president of the Little Rock Education Association union of district teachers and support staff, said she was "shocked" by the planned payout of nearly $250,000 to Suggs.
"I'm disappointed to learn that that amount of money that could be spent on students and on improving our distressed schools is being spent in such a manner," Koehler said. "It seems ironic that [Suggs] can negotiate a buyout at the same time he kept postponing 2014-15 financial negotiations [with employees]. Let's hope going forward that people begin making decisions that truly put children first and make that more than just a platitude."
Marion Humphrey, an attorney who is representing three of the displaced Little Rock School Board members and two school district voters in a lawsuit pending before the Arkansas Supreme Court to restore the Little Rock School Board, said Tuesday that he was glad to see Suggs go.
"I think he undermined the work that the School Board was doing," Humphrey said. "Dr. Suggs was not doing the job that he committed himself to doing and he was not working to improve the particular schools that the State Board of Education had identified [as academically distressed]."
Humphrey also said that having removed Suggs, state leaders should now take steps to reinstate the Little Rock School Board. He called the state takeover of the district "an outright fiasco" and "we don't need Johnny Key making the calls for the Little Rock School District.
"Mr. Key is from Northwest Arkansas. His frame of reference is from that part of the state," Humphrey said. "This is the central part of the state with a very different demographic and I think it is time for the elected board of directors be reinstated so that they can get on with the process of educating the children in this district."
'rebuild, regain, restore'
Both Key and Burton met Tuesday evening with the Little Rock district's new Civic Advisory Committee, a group of about 30 people made up of community and city government representatives, philanthropic organization leaders, and teachers and students from the district's six academically distressed schools: Baseline Elementary; Cloverdale and Henderson middle schools; and J.A. Fair, Hall and McClellan high schools.
Committee members pressed Key for information on the academically distressed schools, and how and when the locally elected School Board might be restored in the district.
"Folks feel like they have lost something in the takeover of the district," Key said in response after the meeting. "We as a state department want to help them rebuild, regain, restore what they have here. It is our ultimate goal to return them to local governance."
"There is no timeline," he added. "That decision will be made by the State Board of Education. We will provide them input as they request it. We will certify to them when the conditions that led to the academic distress have been corrected. We'll work with this committee and this administration to see that through."
The committee will meet again May 26.
In recent weeks, Suggs had been developing proposals to offset the anticipated loss of $37 million in state desegregation aid and to streamline the operation of the 24,000 student district.
Those proposals included vacating the staff at Baseline Elementary School and replacing it with a largely bilingual staff; and converting Rockefeller Elementary into a prekindergarten center. Suggs had sent notice to more than 60 administrators that their jobs would be eliminated for the coming 2016-17 school year although they might be eligible for other jobs in the system.
The jobs targeted for elimination included that of the deputy superintendent, the post held by Burton, and three associate superintendents.
Joy Springer, one of the displaced Little Rock School Board members and now a member of the district's Civic Advisory Committee, asked Key whether proposals made by Suggs would be carried out before the advisory committee can respond to them.
Key said no. He told the committee that the group was created by a vote of the state Education Board in January and that the board wants to hear from the committee.
The new interim
Key also told the committee that he and Burton, the newly appointed interim superintendent, had met for the first time just a few days ago.
"At the time I told him that if the day comes when he needs to step in, we're going to be there to support you as the department," Key said, adding later that he is "very confident" in Burton's ability to lead the district.
Key also said that an effort to identify a more permanent superintendent was underway. Asked whether Burton might be a candidate for that, Key said all options are on the table.
Burton, 50, started work in the district in 1989 as a science teacher at Hall High. He has also been an assistant principal, and a middle and high school principal as well as a central office administrator.
He was interim superintendent in the spring of 2013, just before Suggs began work.
Burton issued a statement Tuesday afternoon saying that he was honored to serve as the interim superintendent and to work with a team of dedicated employees to achieve the best results for students.
The fine print
The settlement and severance agreement between Suggs and Key includes several provisions to protect both parties.
The agreement precludes Suggs from suing over his separation from the district or employment by the state.
It also obligates Suggs to cooperate with "Employer" -- as it is repeatedly phrased in the agreement -- to disclose any pending matters and to assist in defending the district and himself against any pending or future litigation against him or the district/state.
Suggs is also directed by the agreement to return all district property including electronics, video and audio recordings, computer files and reports.
The agreement states that it is not meant to be an admission of any wrongdoing by the superintendent or the employer.
"Except as may be required by law, Superintendent will not discuss this Agreement with any person other than his spouse, attorneys or tax advisor," the agreement says.
"Superintendent and Employer agree that they will not disparage or otherwise make any comments or statements or render any opinions, either orally or in writing that are intended to, or could be construed in a manner so as to, discredit, injure or impair the reputation or impede the business of either the superintendent or the Employer."
A Section on 04/22/2015