NLR School Board votes 6-0 to make Acklin permanent superintendent.

The North Little Rock School Board voted Thursday to remove “interim” from Bobby Acklin’s superintendent title and extend his contract by two years to June 30, 2020.

The board’s 6-0 vote on Acklin came at the end of a meeting in which the board also voted to give one-time bonuses of up to $2,250 to the district’s approximately 1,400 licensed teaching employees and support staff. Plans are to pay the $3.5 million in bonuses in December.

Board member Luke King made the motion to name Acklin the district’s permanent superintendent after the board met in an executive session that was closed to the public. Board member Tracy Steele made the motion to go into the closed session to discuss “promotion” of personnel.

“Mr. Acklin, will you accept?” board member Dorothy Williams asked after the vote, to which Acklin said yes.

“Thank you, because you didn’t have to do it,” Acklin added. “I promise I will give it all I’ve got. I will be sensitive to the concerns of the School Board, my bosses, and I’ll work tirelessly for the district and the children of this district, to make the best decisions that I possibly can and empower staff to do their jobs and do them with perfection so our children can compete in a global society.”

Acklin’s appointment to the full-time position — greeted with cheers by audience members — comes less than a month before the annual School Board election on Nov. 6 that will result in at least two and possibly three new members on the seven-member board.

Board members King and Darrell Montgomery — who was absent from Thursday’s meeting — are not running for re-election. Cindy Temple, appointed to the board last year, is being challenged for the Zone 5 seat by Latoya Morgan.

Acklin, 62, has been the district’s interim superintendent since July 1. His salary will remain at $175,000 per year.

He was one of five finalists to fill the vacancy created when the board bought out the final year of former Superintendent Kelly Rodgers’ contract, but the board decided to select an interim leader.

This is the second consecutive year that the board has voted to give bonuses to employees. Employees working six to eight hours a day will receive $2,250, those working four to 5.99 hours a day will receive $1,687 and those who work one hour to 3.99 hours a day will receive $1,125.

The bulk of the money for the payments comes from $3.1 million that was set aside but ultimately not needed to pay off a lease-purchase debt on equipment, Brian Brown, the district’s interim executive director of finance, said.