Kelly Rodgers, the superintendent of the North Little Rock School District for almost five years, announced Thursday that he will retire at the end of the current year, leaving one year on his contract that expires in June 2019.
Rodgers made the surprise announcement just before 9 p.m. Thursday, after the School Board had met for almost an hour in an executive session that was closed to the public.
"At a previous meeting, the board and I had had a discussion and I told them of my plan to retire at the end of this contract year," Rodgers, 61, told the audience when the board had reconvened. "So if you were wondering why they were in such a long deliberations, it takes a while to get through things like this."
Thursday's executive session was at least the third such session the board has held on the superintendent's contract and evaluation in as many months. The board had not voted after the most recent evaluation nor after the evaluation completed in January 2017 to extend Rodgers' contract to the full three years allowed by state law for a superintendent.
School boards routinely add a year to a leader's contract for each year that is expended unless there are known extenuating circumstances -- such as a leader's retirement plan. Minus extenuating reasons, a board's failure to extend a contract can be a sign of dissatisfaction with a superintendent but is short of buying out a contract or replacing the superintendent.
School Board member Luke King told Rodgers after the announcement Thursday that the board appreciated Rodgers' service.
"This is something we will continue to discuss as we move through the remainder of this year," King said. "As a board it is our plan to move forward with our search for our next leader beginning effective immediately. We will work with our director of [human resources] in that plan. We will be as transparent as possible as we always are. We will get feedback from our community and give you feedback on our process."
The School Board took no vote Thursday on accepting the retirement, nor on any financial settlements with Rodgers, nor on how to proceed with the search for a new superintendent.
Asked during a brief break in the meeting whether the board was buying out the final year of the contract, School Board President Sandi Campbell said details about the separation "are being worked out by the lawyers."
"He will serve through June 30 of this year and we are in negotiations at this point," Campbell said.
Negotiations about payments?
"Yes," she said.
Rodgers' salary is $185,000 a year with an automobile allowance of $7,200 a year. His contract does not include any terms about the superintendent leaving before the expiration of the contract. There is no buyout clause in the agreement. The contract only says "the board may terminate the contract at any time for cause."
Rodgers met briefly with the board toward the end of the executive session but spent most of the session in the hallway while the six board members present met in his office. Campbell came out periodically to confer with Jay Bequette of the Bequette and Billingsley law firm that routinely advises and represents the district on legal matters. Board members also conferred with Karli Saracini, the district's personnel director.
Board member Darrell Montgomery was absent. Those present besides Campbell and King were Tracy Steele, Dorothy Williams, Taniesha Richardson-Wiley and Cindy Temple.
Steele, at a break after the announcement, said that Rodgers had been talking about retirement "for a while."
Beth Shumate, the district's deputy superintendent, said she had no idea about Rodgers' plans.
Rodgers, an Arkansas native but had been a superintendent for 10 years in Texas before his hiring in North Little Rock.
As the district's chief executive, he oversaw the final years of the districtwide capital construction program that reduced 19 campuses to 13. Only the building plans for the middle school have not been fully realized. At the same time, the district has had to cut its operating costs to help pay for the building program and offset the loss of $7.6 million in state desegregation aid. That aid ends this year as the result of a 2014 settlement agreement in a long-running Pulaski County School desegregation lawsuit.
During his tenure, Rodgers has overseen the establishment of a charter school within its high school, put old campuses up for sale, hired a new high school principal, fired a high school football coach and put the district on a path to have one computing device per student within the next few weeks.
The district in recent years has struggled with raising student achievement on state Aspire exams.
Besides the North Little Rock district, the Pulaski County Special School District is already conducting a superintendent search to replace Jerry Guess, who was fired in July.
Metro on 03/16/2018