Superintendent Curry resigns from Watson Chapel School District

Watson Chapel School Board President Sandra Boone opens a special board meeting with Superintendent Andrew Curry absent Thursday. 
(Pine Bluff Commercial/I.C. Murrell)
Watson Chapel School Board President Sandra Boone opens a special board meeting with Superintendent Andrew Curry absent Thursday. (Pine Bluff Commercial/I.C. Murrell)

After two lengthy special called board meetings, the Watson Chapel School Board voted 4-2 to accept the resignation of Superintendent Andrew Curry on Thursday, one day before the first anniversary of his hire.

Speaking after the meeting, which ended after nearly two hours, board President Sandra Boone declined to divulge details that led to Curry’s resignation, citing state law, but she said some of the complaints were similar to those lodged against him before he resigned as Jessieville district superintendent in 2014, including reports of bullying employees.

“All of that stuff is everything that he’s doing here,” Boone said. “… The same thing happened in Jessieville. Other than that, I won’t be able to answer any questions because, [as] I told the irate young man it’s a personnel matter and we can’t discuss personnel.” Boone referred to Pine Bluff radio personality Will Jenkins as the “irate young man.” Some of the visitors at the meeting asked the board “Why?” after board trustee Goldie Whitaker made a motion to accept Curry’s resignation. Jenkins later asked “Personnel or personal?” when Boone explained personnel matters could not be discussed in the open.

“When’s your seat up, ma’am?” Jenkins said, walking off as the board adjourned.

Curry was absent from the meetings relative to the personnel discussion but was present for the WCSD’s most recent regular meeting June 13. Curry declined comment via text after numerous attempts to reach him were made.

The board on June 1 hired a third-party investigative firm to look into allegations, the nature of which the board declined to disclose, against an employee later determined to be Curry, following another lengthy closed session of a special called meeting. Boone said at the time there were random complaints made by five different employees of the district, none of whom she named.

Donnie Hartsfield, Kevin Moore, Whitaker and Boone voted to accept the resignation. Christopher Dutton and Mack Milner voted against it. Alan Frazier was absent.

Dutton said after the meeting that Curry “has done great things” leading the district, adding nothing would have convinced him to accept the resignation letter.

The Commercial obtained a printed copy of an emailed letter addressed to board members by district principals and other leaders supporting Curry. Junior high school principal Uyolanda Wilson attached the letter, with elementary principals Edgar Cooper, Phyllis Cage and Marcia Merritt indicating support for the letter.

“He has built a rapport with students, teachers, and administrators from kindergarten through high school,” the letter stated. “(W)hether he was Dr. Seuss, Santa Claus, “Ivory” of the duo Ebony and Ivory, the “unofficial coach” during football season or the line dance king at parental involvement events, he takes of his time to make time for those things that are important to our students and staff. All of that to say, he is the artery that creates the rhythmic heartbeat this district has needed for years. To remove this artery is to remove the consistent flow of progress we experienced this year both academically and culturally.” With less than two months before the start of the 2022-23 school year, the board will solicit applications for Curry’s full-time successor and name an interim superintendent, Boone said. An interim may not be named before the next regular board meeting July 11, she said.

“We have a person in mind to be interim, but we have not talked to that person yet,” Boone said.

For now, assistant superintendent LaDonna Spain remains the highest ranking WCSD official, but Boone did not say what if any of Curry’s duties Spain would take on until an interim is named.

“We try to do things by law,” Boone said. “Whatever the law demands, that’s what this board does.” The board met for nearly two hours in executive session Monday to go over details of the allegations, but Boone announced in open session the trustees could not reach a decision on the matter. She later disclosed the board wanted to give Curry time to consider a resignation offer.

Curry was given a three-year contract of $142,356 per year last year. Under the terms of the deal, a 30-day written notice of termination with or without cause was required; if there was no cause for firing, Curry was to be paid 30 days after the effective date of the termination, and if there was cause, the board would determine whether Curry would be compensated at the contract rate of pay for a maximum of 30 days after the termination date. (Curry was paid monthly, according to the contract.) Boone had taken Curry to task over certain expenses she deemed either too high or not applicable for purchase with the district credit card in recent board meetings. For example, Boone questioned Curry about the expense of cupcakes from a local bakery given to employees, and Curry said it was for a recent function.

Some patrons who attended Thursday’s meeting shared cupcakes with each other during the executive session.

Curry was hired in March 2021 to replace Jerry Guess as Watson Chapel superintendent. The Iraq war veteran was previously assistant superintendent of the Ozark Mountain School District and had also served as superintendent in Van-Cove, Jessieville and Deer/ Mount Judea districts.

Among his achievements, Curry struck a deal with Pine Bluff transformer company Central Moloney Inc. to facilitate a welding program at the high school starting with the upcoming school year. Central Moloney CEO Chris Hart, a Watson Chapel High graduate, announced a $100,000 commitment for the first year of the program in May.

The Watson Chapel board will now have to look for a permanent leader to take charge of the district’s campaign for a new high school to replace the 76-year-old junior high school. The cost to build academic portions of the high school was last estimated at $18.6 million, with the Arkansas Department of Education committing to fund about $14.6 million of it.

Curry and other district officials have said a millage increase will be necessary to cover the remaining cost.


  photo  Watson Chapel School District stakeholders pack a boardroom during board trustees’ executive session Thursday. (Pine Bluff Commercial/I.C. Murrell)
 
 


  photo  In this file photo then-incoming Watson Chapel School District Superintendent Andrew Curry addresses board members and visitors of a regular school board meeting. (Pine Bluff Commercial/I.C. Murrell)
 
 


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