Sharpe retains superintendent’s job by one vote
By Greg Rayburn and Bill Lawson / Staff writers / grayburn@sherwoodvoice.com / blawson@maumellemonitor.com
Thursday, December 4, 2008 11:11 AM CST
The current superintendent of schools for the Pulaski County Special School District remains at the helm following a one-vote majority to retain him.
On Monday night, during a special meeting of the school board, a motion to remove him made by board member Tim Clark fell short. Clark, of Maumelle, moved to fire Sharpe for “just cause” after the board reviewed Sharpe’s own internal investigation into the engineering reports that eventually closed two schools within the district for repairs.
Sharpe’s outside investigation indicated he was made aware of the problems with the roof on Oct.13, although he said at a board meeting last month that he first learned about the problem on Nov. 6.
Board President Mildred Tatum broke a 3-3 tie of board members evenly split to remove Sharpe from the post he has held for 2.5 years.
Besides Clark, the other board members who voted in favor of his removal were Gwen Williams and Bill Vasquez. Besides Tatum, members who opposed Sharpe's immediate firing were Charlie Woods and Shana Chaplin.
The vote followed an executive session that lasted approximately two hours called by members who wished to discuss personnel matters of several administrators in the wake of closings of Clinton Elementary and Crystal Hill Elementary. Both schools were closed recently when structural problems were found in the buildings.
“The superintendent didn't act quickly enough. Students were jeopardized,” Marty Nix, PACT president, said Monday. The group last month issued a no confidence vote in Sharpe. "The minute he was made aware of the situation in September or October, something should of have been done then. You don't send students into a school building that's not safe," Nix said.
Besides Sharpe, board members called the executive session to discuss personnel matters relating to Chief Finance Officer Larry O'Briant, Director of Facilities Planning Jerry Holder, and Executive Director for Support Services James Warren.
Prior to the calling of the executive session, board members quizzed board attorney Sam Jones about what options the board had with respect to renewing, not renewing and terminating the contracts of school administrators, assistant superintendents, and the superintendent.
“The initial term of the superintendent's contract shall be from the effective date and ending on June 30, 2009,” Jones told board members, which is when Sharpe's current contract expires.
Jones told board members they had the right to terminate the contract of administrators if they chose. However, the precedent set forth in Arkansas has traditionally been that the contracts of superintendents are renewed automatically unless school boards take action not to renew them.
“(Sharpe's) contract further provides that in January of each calendar year commencing in 2007, the term of this agreement may be extended by the district for a period of one year from the end of the current term,” Jones said. “All extensions shall become an amendment to the agreement.”
Jones added, “If the district does not approve this annual rolling extension, the agreement will expire at the end of its then-current term. If the district does not wish to extend the superintendent's contract beyond June 30, 2009, the district may notify the superintendent that it does not intend to approve an extension of the contract beyond its termination date.”
Jones said Sharpe's contact allows that his contact may be terminated for the following reasons: mutual consent, retirement, disability, termination for cause, and unilateral termination by the district.
The vote on Sharpe's potential termination came after the board voted unanimously to allocate $170,000 to repair the roof at Clinton Elementary and $220,000 to repair the roof at Crystal Hill.
The temporary repairs would reinforce and support the wooden trusses which became unsafe after weakening over the years because of chemicals applied to the wood to make it fireproof. School board members and parents became alarmed after learning about the engineers unsafe warning which was first issued in September. Earlier reports identified the problems and recommended solutions as far back as 1998 and again in 2004, but no action was taken.
The board followed the recommendation of Sharpe, who told board members, 'I recommend we move forward with urgency in repairing the roofs.
Sharpe said the roofs should be repaired within six to eight weeks at Crystal Hill and four to six weeks at Clinton.
Sharpe also recommended the board move forward with a plan for total roof repairs at both schools during the summers of 2009, 2010, and 2011, which will have a preliminary cost of between $7.47-$7.9 million.
“These timetables will allow the board to decide how to fund these roofing projects,” Sharpe said. “That is, second lien bonds, local bond elections, etc. This also has the least negative impact on student achievement.”
In the detailed investigative report, Jerry Holder, director of plant services, documents with copies of e-mails and memos his actions taken to notify his superiors about the roof problems. His immediate supervisor, James Warren, executive director of support services, signed an a form acknowledging the engineering reports were received by him on Nov. 25, 2003. He said during the investigation that he did not see the report until Nov. 7, 2008.
The report also documents that Sharpe was briefed on the latest report by chief financial officer Larry O’Briant on Oct. 13.
