The superintendent of the Russellville School District was ousted Tuesday night by the School Board, which voted to immediately suspend him and terminate his contract at the end of the fiscal year.
Russellville Superintendent Mark Gotcher is on paid administrative leave after Tuesday's 5-2 vote, and his contract will be terminated June 30. He has been superintendent since 2017 and worked at the district for more than two decades.
School Board President Chris Cloud said in a statement that the board evaluated Gotcher's performance in January and decided not to extend his contract. Arkansas school superintendents are typically offered the security of three-year contracts, as allowed by law. As one year of work is completed, a school board can extend the contract by a year to retain the three-year commitment.
A board's decision against extending the agreement can mean that a superintendent has signaled a plan to resign or retire. The decision against extending a contract can also be a sign of board dissatisfaction with a chief executive.
Gotcher's relationship with the board and district staff saw "a range of issues" in the three months since the evaluation, Cloud said, so the board decided the district "needed new leadership." The vote for Gotcher's paid leave and eventual termination came after "failing to resolve those issues and reach an agreeable end to Dr. Gotcher's employment relationship with the Russellville School District," according to the statement.
Board members Cloud, Morgan Barrett, Jeff Carter, Jason Golden and Jeremy Keaster voted in favor of Gotcher's termination, while board members Wesley White and Janet Winn voted against it, according to meeting minutes.
Cloud declined to give further comment when reached by phone Wednesday.
Gotcher did not respond to requests for comment by phone, and his Russellville School District email account had already been disabled Wednesday afternoon.
Cloud had described Gotcher as the "overwhelmingly perfect fit" for the superintendent position shortly after the board chose him in 2017 out of 18 applicants to replace retiring Superintendent Randall Williams. Gotcher was not new to the district -- he served as principal of Crawford Elementary School from 2007-2013. Before that, he was an elementary school music teacher in Russellville and assistant principal at the middle school and junior high.
He has lived in Russellville since 1983 and is a graduate of Arkansas Tech University. He was deputy commissioner of the Arkansas Department of Education before he was appointed Russellville superintendent.
Gotcher was one of three finalists for the Conway School District superintendent position last year.
He also served on a seven-member Russellville City Council committee to evaluate Pope County's applications for a casino license in 2019.
Former Clinton School District Superintendent Andrew Vining will serve as acting Russellville superintendent through June 30. Vining left the Clinton School District in June 2018, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette previously reported.
He sent a letter to Russellville School District faculty and staff on Wednesday, inviting them to meet with him so they can get to know each other.
"I am confident we will have a successful remainder of the school year and want to ensure my commitment to making this a smooth and positive transition," Vining said in the letter.
Information for this article was contributed by Cynthia Howell of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.