Shade Gilbert of Conway was hired unanimously as the Guy-Perkins superintendent in a special meeting this month, Board President Chris Acre said.
Gilbert, 48, is the principal of grades nine through 12 in the Nemo Vista School District.
He will replace Interim Superintendent Robert Stewart of Damascus. Stewart has served the 362-student district since June, when former Superintendent Brian Cossey took a position as Wonderview Elementary School principal after he was recommended for termination by the Guy-Perkins School Board.
Gilbert, a Fordyce native, said he has worked at small rural schools his entire career, except for a stint at Mills High School in Pulaski County.
“Rural, small-town people have a lot of similarities. … I just like rural, small-town people; I just do,” he said.
Stewart said he called Gilbert’s references.
“I checked him out thoroughly; I probably called 20 people,” Stewart said. “That boy has a lot to live up to; they all gave him glowing remarks. Everyone had positive things to say about Mr. Gilbert.”
Gilbert said he attended Louisiana Tech University and planned to go to law school, but he “got the bug” to teach. He earned his degree in history from Henderson State University in Arkadelphia and his education hours at the University of Arkansas at Monticello before going back to Henderson for a master’s in counseling and principal’s certification and picking up hours for his superintendent’s certification along the way.
His first job was teaching social studies in the Carthage School District, which consolidated with the Malvern School District. He was a counselor in Kingsland for a year, then went to his alma mater, Fordyce, as an elementary school counselor.
He was also a counselor at Mills High School in Pulaski County for a year. From there, he went to the Harmony Grove School District in Camden as a K-6 counselor for two years before his first foray into administration as a principal, counselor and teacher in Emmet, which has since consolidated with Blevins.
Gilbert said he enjoyed being a counselor because “you had direct contact with the kids.”
“You were able to help them where they wanted to be helped. The problems of a third- or fifth-grader are not the same problems of a 10th-grader,” he said.
He was superintendent of the Stone County School District in Timbo from 2003-2004, but Gilbert said it was administratively annexed with Mountain View, and he became the Timbo High School principal.
He held that position for 3 1/2 years before moving to the Arkansas Department of Education, Standards Assurance Unit, where he worked for 8 1/2 years.
It is his second year as principal in the Nemo Vista School District in Center Ridge.
“It was one of those districts — like Guy-Perkins and a few around — that I said if I ever want to get back in public schools, I would come to,” Gilbert said.
“I was looking for a new challenge,” he said. “I was looking to get back into superintendency; [Guy-Perkins] was close to home. It was a small district, and it just seemed like a good fit.”
Gilbert said if the Nemo Vista School Board approves, he plans to use his vacation days to start working in the Guy-Perkins School District as soon as possible. His annual salary will be $93,000.
“I am planning on attending both board meetings to keep myself apprised,” he said.
He and his wife, Carla, have two children, Max, 8, and Ella Kate, 4. His wife, an alumna of St. Joseph School in Conway, works in the cafeteria at the school, which their children attend.
Acre said Gilbert “had a good interview” and answered a list of questions prepared by the board, including those about school funding.
The district was placed on fiscal distress in June 2015 by the Arkansas Department of Education for the district’s declining financial balance. Patrons approved a 2.5-mill property-tax increase in the September 2015 school election to help boost the district’s finances.
“He has, I guess, what you’d call a good inner circle of people, contacts if he has any questions about budget and stuff,” Acre said.
Gilbert said he will look at staffing and other areas of the district’s budget.
“Sometimes you get into the day-to-day grind, and you can’t see the forest for the trees,”
Gilbert said. “I understand this is their livelihood, and they want to keep their schools; I don’t take that lightly.
“I have a responsibility to do what’s best financially and educationally for the children of the Guy-Perkins School District.”
Gilbert said he doesn’t want to cause concern, “but I owe it to people to give a fresh look with an objective eye.
“I’ve always tried to work hard and do my dead-level best to do right. … I’ve always tried to follow that do-right rule.”
Cossey said in previous interviews that he doesn’t know why he was recommended for termination and that the board’s action surprised him. Acre will not comment on the reason. Stewart said Cossey’s personnel records are not subject to the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act.
Cossey was the K-12 principal for four years before being named interim superintendent in January 2013, when former Superintendent David Westenhover resigned, effective at the end of the school year, and was placed on paid administrative leave. Cossey was hired unanimously in 2013 to be the district’s superintendent.
Westenhover was arrested and charged in Faulkner County Circuit Court with two felonies, including theft by receiving for allegedly having a stolen weapon on campus, as well as a misdemeanor charge. Those charges were dropped, according to the online database Arkansas CourtConnect. His son, Joshua, was charged with theft by receiving,
a felony, and pleaded guilty, CourtConnect states. He was sentenced to probation, fined $500 and ordered to pay court costs.
Gilbert was chosen from among 21 applicants, including Guy-Perkins K-12 Principal Karen Hoskins.
“We thought he was the best candidate and might stay with us longer than anybody else,” Acre said. “We asked him, ‘Where do you see yourself in five, 10 years — still in education, or retired?’ He wants a place to reitre at; he sees himself still working.”
Gilbert said he is keenly aware of the upheaval that has occurred in the Guy-Perkins District in the past, and he hopes to offer stability for the future.
“I told the school board that I intended this to be my last job, if at all possible,” Gilbert said. “I intend to be stable there. As long as the good people of Guy, Arkansas, will have me, I’d love to stay there.”
Senior writer Tammy Keith can be reached at (501) 327-0370 or tkeith@arkansasonline.com.