Zrano Bowles Jr. is Arkansas Education Commissioner Johnny Key's choice to be superintendent of the Lee County School District, which was taken over by the state for standards violations earlier this week.
Bowles, 35, is the deputy superintendent of the Forrest City School District.
His appointment to lead the 718-student Lee County system on behalf of the state is effective Tuesday.
In his new role, Bowles will be paid $31,625 for the remainder of this school year. That's a prorated portion of an annual salary of $115,000, according to a contract that he and Key signed Wednesday.
The superintendent contract covers the coming 2019-20 school year, which is due to expire June 30, 2020.
Key said in an emailed statement Wednesday that Bowles' previous experience at the Arkansas Department of Education and his deputy superintendent work in Forrest City make him "well-suited to take on this challenge."
Bowles did not immediately return phone and email messages left for him Wednesday. In a statement released by the Forrest City school system, Bowles thanked Key for his support in selecting him for the Lee County job and for his interest in the welfare of Lee County students.
"As we head into this new chapter in the Lee County School District my hope is that we, as a team, will be able to first and foremost, focus on the education of our students and second, foster an atmosphere in the community conducive with making our children the best that they can be," Bowles said.
Bowles has been a deputy superintendent since 2015. Previously, he was a school improvement grant coordinator/school improvement specialist at the Education Department from 2012-15, principal of Osceola High School from 2007-11 and a classroom teacher in the Earle School District from 2004-07.
His bachelor's and master's degrees are from Arkansas State University, and he has just recently completed a doctoral program at Arkansas Tech University.
Bowles' appointment comes in the wake of the Arkansas Board of Education's special meeting Monday when the board voted to immediately assume control of the Marianna-based Lee County district, removing Superintendent Elizabeth Johnson and the district's School Board.
Deborah Coffman, the state Department of Education assistant commissioner for public school accountability, told the Education Board that the district and the high school had committed egregious violations of the state's standards for accreditation.
"Without immediate intervention, 35 of the 56 seniors will not graduate on time or will graduate with an incomplete or incorrect transcript," Coffman said Monday.
The district reportedly had violated state accreditation standards by failing to maintain accurate, up-to-date transcripts for its students, and parents and students were not given timely notice of issues affecting students' eligibility for graduation.
Lee High School had violated the standards by failing to provide students with appropriate guidance on scheduling and completing courses necessary to achieve the minimum 22 course credits that are necessary to graduate.
Mike Hernandez, the state's superintendent for the office for coordinated support and service, and his team are overseeing the Lee County district -- at Key's direction -- until Bowles is in place. Hernandez's job is to assist the state's most academically and financially challenged school systems.
On Wednesday, Coffman said Arkansas Education Department staff members were at the district to help students schedule their needed courses -- be they online or available in summer school.
This is the second time that the Lee County district has been taken over by the state. The state assumed control of the district in 2014, dismissing the School Board and placing the superintendent under the supervision of the commissioner.
There are now five districts operating under state control. In addition to Lee County, the Little Rock, Dollarway, Earle and Pine Bluff school districts are operating under state-appointed superintendents.
Metro on 03/28/2019