December 11, 2003
The
Board of Directors of the Little Rock School District held a special session at
6:00 p.m. on Thursday, December 11, 2003, immediately following the regularly
scheduled agenda meeting, in the Boardroom of the Administration Building, 810
West Markham Street, Little Rock, Arkansas.
President Tony Rose presided.
MEMBERS
PRESENT:
Tony Rose
Larry Berkley
Mike Daugherty
Bryan Day
Baker Kurrus
Katherine Mitchell
MEMBERS
ABSENT:
Sue Strickland
ALSO
PRESENT:
Morris L. Holmes, Interim Superintendent
Beverly Griffin, Recorder of Minutes
I. CALL TO ORDER
President Tony Rose called the special
meeting to order at 6:10 p.m. Six
members of the Board were present at roll call; Ms. Strickland was absent. In addition, ex officio representatives
were also present: Margaret Harris,
teacher at Terry Elementary School, and Keenan Williams, student at Hall High
School.
II. PURPOSE
OF THE MEETING
The printed agenda for the special meeting contained the following action
items:
A. Second Reading: Policies ACBB, JC, JCA
B. Student Assignment Plan, 2004-05
C. Employee Hearing
III. ACTION
AGENDA:
A. Second Reading: Policies ACBB, JC, JCA
Board policies ACBB – Equitable Student Assignment, JC – School Attendance Zones, and JCA – School Choice were presented for the Board’s review and consideration at the September board meeting. They were tabled at that time for additional review and community input. The policies were again presented for first reading approval at the special meeting of November 6, 2003, and action was again tabled.
The board granted first reading
approval of ACBB, JC, and JCA on
November 20, 2003, and they were presented for second reading adoption at this
time. Mr. Berkley made a motion to
approve the policies on second reading.
Mr. Day seconded the motion, and it carried
unanimously.
B. Student Assignment Plan, 2004-05
Dr. Holmes recommended the Board’s approval of a student assignment plan for one year, 2004-05, which would include a weighted random assignment process utilizing race, achievement test performance and socio-economic status as factors in the determination of school assignment. A committee of community members and administrators will be appointed by the Board to review the student assignment process related to implementation of the 2004-05 plan and the policies related to equitable student assignment, school attendance zones, and school choice. This committee will be expected to present their recommendations for future student assignment guidelines, procedures and policies.
Mr. Berkley made a motion to approve the plan as presented by Dr. Holmes. Mr. Day seconded the motion and it carried unanimously.
III. EMPLOYEE HEARING
An employee requested a hearing on the issues of his
reassignment and resulting salary reduction.
He was represented by Attorney Mark Burnette.
Khyaam Eddings represented the LRSD and Beverly
Williams, Human Resources Director, provided personnel documentation. Don Stewart, Chief Financial Officer, and
Sandy Becker, Internal Auditor, were called as witnesses for the District.
The employee provided a listing of the positions he
had held in the LRSD from 1973 to the present.
He had previously in many different capacities during the years at
various schools and in several departments.
Ms. Williams provided documentation from Human
Resources files that indicated over the past five years, the employee had been
notified annually that his contract would not be renewed under the same terms
and conditions as the current contract, or that he would be reassigned to a
different position within the District.
Each of these notifications resulted in the employee being reassigned to
a different worksite or placement in an alternate job position, but these
reassignments had never before resulted in a reduction in the employee’s
salary. In each instance, the employee
was maintained on the payroll at his then current salary range and/or on the
same pay scale.
Dr. Daugherty left the meeting at 7:40 p.m., therefore five members of
the Board were present for the full hearing and deliberations.
The employee stated that his most recent reassignment
was not a result of financial or budgetary considerations, as the position and
salary was not eliminated from the District’s budget. The position was filled by another administrator after he was
reassigned. He stated that the
reassignment was due to the change in administration at the school, and that the
principal preferred another individual over him to fill the position.
The employee testified that the reassignment resulted
in a salary reduction of approximately $14,000. He asked for the Board to consider the financial devastation this
reduction had on his ability to support his family. He asked for consideration of his thirty years of service and for
the Board to reinstate him to the administrative pay scale and to place him in
an administrative position.
The Board was provided with a copy of Board policy regulation GCKC-R, pertaining to displaced staff transfers. This regulation provides guidelines for the notification of employees of changes in the contract, reassignment to alternate employment positions, and the provisions for reducing an employee’s salary after reassignments.
The Board took a brief recess for deliberations at 8:02 p.m. They returned at 8:20 p.m.
Mr. Kurrus made a motion to: 1) find true the facts presented in the administration’s recommendation for reassignment; and 2) to uphold the decision to reassign the employee. Mr. Berkley seconded the motion and it carried unanimously.
IV. ADJOURNMENT
There being no further business before the Board,
the meeting adjourned at
8:22 p.m. on a motion by Dr. Mitchell, seconded by Mr. Berkley.
APPROVED:
01-22-04 Originals
Signed by:
Tony
Rose, President
R. Micheal Daugherty, Secretary