Jermall Wright’s contract to be Little Rock School District superintendent gets final approval

Mississippian’s licensing requirements resolved, board says

Jermall D. Wright
Jermall D. Wright


The Little Rock School Board voted 6-0 at a special four-minute meeting Wednesday to approve a final contract for new superintendent Jermall Wright.

The action on the 2022-25 contract came after the board gave conditional approval to a very similar contract last week.

That approval was contingent on verification from the state of Arkansas that Wright was eligible to hold an Arkansas educator license.

School Board President Greg Adams said Wednesday that those licensure matters were satisfactorily resolved.

Wright will become superintendent effective July 1, replacing Mike Poore who announced earlier that he will retire at the end of June.

The new superintendent will receive an annual salary of $240,000 for the upcoming 2022-23 school year.

Before the start of his second and third years of work, the contract calls for the board to determine the superintendent's base pay, which will not be less than $240,000, and the board and superintendent will discuss goals for the superintendent and potential bonus pay for achievement of those goals.

Wright's new contract provides for him to be paid to work in the Little Rock district, as his time allows, on transition matters before the official July 1 start date.

Wright is the state-appointed superintendent of the Mississippi Achievement School District, which is a combination of the Yazoo City and Humphreys County school systems.

Little Rock board members present and voting for the pact on Wednesday were Adams, Vicki Hatter, Michael Mason, Ali Noland, Sandrekkia Morning and Evelyn Callaway.

Hatter made the motion to approve the contract. She and Morning had voted against the conditional contract last week, citing ambiguity in the language on compensation.

Those absent Wednesday were Jeff Wood, Leigh Ann Wilson and Norma Johnson.

Other terms of the contract will provide Wright with $1,000 a month for routine business travel within the district in his personal vehicle. Wright will have access to a district cellphone, laptop computer, and computer tablet.

"Within seven days of the execution of this agreement, the District will pay the Superintendent a relocation stipend of $9,000," the document states.

The contract also calls for the board to evaluate the superintendent to determine whether he has made satisfactory progress toward the goals established by the board.


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