School chief’s case taken to state board
Supporters of Lee County School District Superintendent Willie Murdock took their complaints with the Lee County School Board to the Arkansas Board of Education last week.
The Lee County board earlier this year voted 4-3 to terminate Murdock, who is married to Rep. Reginald Murdock D-Marianna. Willie Murdock, however, remains on the job as the result of a Feb. 23 temporary restraining order issued against the School Board by Circuit Judge Chalk S. Mitchell.
Speaking on Willie Murdock’s behalf, attorney Bill Lewellen told the state Education Board that the local board has repeatedly refused to accept Murdock’s recommendations on staff hires, including that of a high school counselor who is needed to ensure that students meet requirements for graduation. Lewellen said the stalemate has put the district in violation of state accreditation standards and has indefinitely delayed what had been the district’s imminent release from the state’s fiscal distress program.
Murdock has been the district’s chief executive for longer than the current School Board has existed.
The state Education Board in April 2014 took control of the Lee County system because fewer than half of its students had scored at proficient levels on state exams over three years. The district’s elected School Board was dismissed but Murdock, in her second year as superintendent, was retained to manage the district under state supervision.
Achievement improved and a new School Board was elected in September 2015 to work with Murdock, whose existing two-year contract with the state will expire June 30. Her salary this year is $95,000, according to the contract information on the district’s website.
Lewellen presented to the state board a petition asking for the removal or suspension of the School Board members. He suggested that opening all School Board seats for election would be the best way to determine the will of the community in regard to school district leadership and operations.
State official to lead Russellville district
Mark Gotcher, state deputy commissioner of education since mid-2015, is leaving the job to become superintendent of the Russellville School District, effective July 1, he said Thursday.
Gotcher, who is paid $154,998 as deputy commissioner, has lived in Russellville since 1983 and has worked extensively in that district as well as in surrounding school systems. At the time he was selected for his position at the Arkansas Department of Education, he was superintendent in the Atkins School District.
Gotcher earned a bachelor’s degree in music education in 1988, a master’s degree in educational leadership in 2001 and an educator specialist degree in 2012, all from Arkansas Tech University in Russellville. He received a doctorate in educational leadership from Lamar University in Beaumont, Texas.
No one has been named for the deputy job, but Gotcher’s successor will have to be a career educator. Act 525 of 2015 requires that either the commissioner or the deputy commissioner hold a master’s degree and have 10 years of teaching experience, including five years of administrative experience.
Arkansas Education Commissioner Johnny Key has a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering and has not been a classroom teacher.
LR event showcases student art, music
The Little Rock School District’s seventh annual Artistry in the Rock exhibition will showcase the performances and artwork of pre-kindergarten through 12th-grade students Tuesday through Thursday at the Metroplex Event Center, 10800 Colonel Glenn Road.
The event is free and open to the public.
The Student Art Gallery will be open from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. daily. A total of 31 musical performances by school bands, orchestras, drum corps, choirs, pianists, ensembles, dance troupes and more will begin at 9:30 a.m. each day. The performance schedule is on the district’s website: lrsd.org.
Concerts and a silent auction of student and faculty artwork will be held Thursday evening. Doors open at 5:30 p.m and performances start at 6 p.m. Proceeds from the Thursday night events, along with community donations, fund the Morris Holmes Artistry in the Rock Scholarships, which are awarded to one or more seniors who plan to major in the arts or in arts education.
Shawn Richardson, a senior at Metropolitan Career-Tech Center and Central High School, won the 2017 Artistry in the Rock logo competition.