Earle schools chief to be paid $62,917
Richard Wilde, appointed Nov. 6 by Arkansas Education Commissioner Johnny Key to be superintendent of the state-controlled Earle School District, will be paid $62,917.17 by the district for his work through June 30, 2018.
On an annual basis, the salary would be $100,000.
The contract signed by Wilde and Key also authorizes Wilde to occupy an Earle School District-owned house, with the district being responsible for all utilities and maintenance.
Key last month exercised his legal authority to assume control of the 560-student Earle district -- about 22 miles northwest of West Memphis -- because of myriad financial issues, including almost $2 million in improper expenditures dating to 2015.
Wilde, who replaced seven-year Earle School District Superintendent Rickey Nicks, reports directly to Key.
Nicks resigned at the time of the takeover. His annual salary, according to school district website, was $146,787.
Wilde had been a leader in the state Department of Education's School Improvement Unit since 2014. His previous experience includes superintendent work in Washington state and in Arizona.
Teacher gets grant for STEM research
Brian Monson, a teacher at the Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences, and the Arts in Hot Springs, has received a $3,500 STEM research grant for classroom equipment.
The grant is one of six -- totaling $20,000 -- recently announced by The Society for Science and the Public.
Monson plans to use the money to expand a capstone research project that's traditionally reserved for seniors but will now be available to juniors. His students will participate in physics nanoscience experiments.
School to celebrate Blue Ribbon honor
Don Roberts Elementary, 16601 LaMarche Drive in the Little Rock School District, will celebrate its recent designation as a National Blue Ribbon School at 7 p.m. today at the school.
Roberts is one of 342 schools nationally to be recognized in 2017. It's one of two Little Rock district elementary schools to earn the honor, joining Forest Park Elementary. Forest Park was recognized in 2012.
Ceremony to mark expansion project
The Pulaski County Special School District will hold a groundbreaking ceremony at 11 a.m. today for the expansion of Sylvan Hills High School.
The event will be held on the field between the current Sylvan Hills High School and Sylvan Hills Elementary School campuses.
The school expansion includes a new three-story classroom complex, a new kitchen and dining area, a new media center, and a new auditorium, basketball arena and indoor multi-purpose facility. It will accommodate 2,200 students in grades nine through 12.
The project, with an estimated cost of $65 million, is scheduled for completion in August 2019.
District official sets plans to retire
Debbie Milam, the Little Rock School District's director of Volunteers In Public Schools and Partners in Education, is retiring this month after 28 years with the school system.
Superintendent Mike Poore has recommended to Arkansas Education Commissioner Johnny Key that district Volunteer Coordinator Tammy Blaylock, who has worked in the Volunteers In Public Schools office for more than two decades, be Milam's successor. Blaylock's annual salary will be $68,880.
In the 2016-17 school year, volunteers contributed 863,129 hours of help to the Little Rock School District. That has been valued at over $20 million, according to the Little Rock School District's website.
Longer run sought for interim leaders
Little Rock's McClellan High is operating under an interim administrative team.
Superintendent Mike Poore has recommended to Education Commissioner Johnny Key that Emma Nowden continue to serve as the interim principal for possibly as long as the rest of this 2017-18 school year. Her prorated salary is based on an annual salary of about $109,098.
Nowden, an assistant principal at the school, initially took on the top leadership role after McClellan Principal Patricia Ellis-Brunston was placed on paid leave in October for reasons not disclosed by the school district officials, other than that it was for a reason not related to the school district.
Damien Nelson and Jimmy Smith Jr. will be interim assistant principals at McClellan for possibly as long as the rest of this school year, if Key approves. Key acts in place of a locally elected school board in the state-controlled Little Rock district.
NW News on 12/04/2017