18 apply for Guy-Perkins superintendent position

GUY-PERKINS — Eighteen applications have been received to date for the Guy-Perkins superintendent position, including one from the district’s K-12 principal, Karen Hoskins of Greenbrier.

Interim Superintendent Robert Stewart of Damascus 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.

Stewart, a former superintendent of the Quitman School District, came out of retirement to take the position in the fiscally distressed district, and his contract ends June 30 of this year. Stewart said from the day he was hired that he didn’t want the position permanently.

In addition to Hoskins, who has been in the district since July 2013, applicants are as follows:

• Jay Chalk of Gravette, principal of Gravette High School;

• Paulette Crouthers of Eminence, Missouri, principal of Highland Middle School;

• Stephanie Dixon of Hot Springs, principal of Mount Ida Elementary School;

• Chris Ferrell of Manila, assistant superintendent of the Manila School District;

• Shade Gilbert of Conway, principal of grades nine through 12 in the Nemo-Vista School District;

• Janet Gladu of Pittsfield, Illinois, superintendent of the Griggsville, Illinois, School District;

• Chad Harp of Gassville, superintendent of the Cotter School District;

• Steve Morris of Wynne, principal of Wynne High School;

• Ray Nassar of Augusta, former superintendent of the Augusta School District, who is on paid administrative leave. He was reassigned as maintenance/buildings and facilities supervisor, Augusta School Board President

Terry Shadwick said. The district has a new superintendent, Cathy Tanner, who started Aug. 1.

• Angela Olsen of Harrison, office manager, Century 21 real estate, former assistant superintendent for instruction and curriculum in the North Little Rock School District;

• Melissa Parks of Harrison, federal programs/professional development/human resources in the Jasper School District;

• Amy Robertson of Ripon, California, a CEO at Atticus International School Consultants in Dubai;

• Dedrick Sims of Aurora, Colorado, CEO of the Sims-Fayola Foundation;

• Don Travis of Hot Springs, an English teacher in the Hot Springs School District;

• Stacy Wilson of Kotzebue,

Alaska, principal of Kotzebue Middle School;

• Joyce Wood of Pearcy, music/choir director at Hamburg High School; and

• James T. Young of McNeil, a former director of the secondary career center of South Arkansas Community College in El Dorado. Young is not currently working, the application states.

Board President Chris Acre said the board is looking

for someone with “a good background in education and who can prepare a budget, financing. They’ve got to be able to work with the staff; they’ve got to be a personable person.”

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.

Cindy Smith, the Education Department’s fiscal and support-services coordinator, said in an earlier interview that the Guy-Perkins School District’s financial situation is improving and that state officials are pleased with the district’s progress.

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

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.

Senior writer Tammy Keith can be reached at (501) 327-0370 or tkeith@arkansasonline.com.

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