Arkansas Supreme Court allows $635,000 buyout of fired Little Rock superintendent
The Arkansas Supreme Court has decided a $635,000 buyout the Little Rock School Board approved for its fired superintendent can proceed. The court had previously halted the buyout, but attorneys for the school district said nearly all the money had already been paid to former Superintendent Roy Brooks. The court’s one-page order did not explain why the stay was lifted. A group of parents sought the temporary injunction preventing the payments until the court can hear their complaints over the buyout. The parents appealed a lower court ruling that the school board did not abuse its discretion when it voted in May to dismiss the superintendent and pay him money he would have received under his contract. Justices issued a stay halting the payments, but attorneys for the district said in a separate filing that $580,909 had already been distributed. The court also denied the parents' attempt to expedite their appeal of Dr. Brooks's buyout. Chip Welch, an attorney for the school district, says he is pleased with the court's ruling. The district has asked justices to dismiss the appeal. "I think that court recognized our argument that it was too late to stay the payment to Dr. Brooks and therefore the stay order was moot," he says. The lawsuit claimed that state law prohibits using public money on severance pay or spending public money when no value is received in return.
Morning News By Andrew DeMillo
[Editor’s Note: Earlier coverage of the controversy by the New York Times is excerpted below.]
NSBA School Law pages on Little Rock tensions