School Board upholds plumber’s dismissal

ROGERS — The School Board voted unanimously Tuesday to uphold a decision not to renew a plumber’s contract.

Mike Price was one of the School District’s two plumbers whose contracts weren’t renewed when the board agreed with the administration’s recommendation on April 18 to outsource the district’s plumbing services.

Price appealed that decision during a special board meeting Tuesday. The board heard nearly two hours of testimony from Price and district officials, then met in executive session for 40 minutes to deliberate the matter.

Price, 57, worked for the district for 20 years. He told the Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette before Tuesday’s meeting he believed the decision to let him go was motivated by complaints he made in 2014 about the district’s level of compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act.

District officials have denied that allegation.

Price’s complaints weren’t addressed during Tuesday’s meeting. Instead the discussion revolved around a list of three reasons for Price’s dismissal as described in a May 14 letter to Price by Superintendent Marlin Berry. David Matthews, the district’s attorney, said Price’s appeal hearing could be based only on those reasons, and any other issues must not be discussed.

One of those reasons was the decision to outsource the district’s plumbing services. Berry, under questioning by Matthews, said the district already outsources its custodial services and has considered outsourcing other services.

“We belong to the public, and so I feel very strongly we owe efficiency to the public,” Berry said.

The district already was outsourcing about 25 percent of its plumbing jobs, he said. At the time Price was notified of the change, he had 19 open work orders; as of now, the district has no open work orders, Berry said.

“We are now accomplishing the turnaround of all plumbing work orders in 12 hours or less,” he said.

Berry’s letter also stated Price took more than six weeks to fix a hot water heater at Jones Elementary School and he left tools lying around in the meantime. Price also spent more than six hours one day in February at the district’s warehouse composing an email to his supervisor, according to the letter.

Price tried to defend himself against the accusations under questioning by Chris Pearson, an Arkansas Education Association employee who was representing Price. He described conditions at Jones Elementary that made the replacement of the water heater a complex project.

Price said after the meeting the board’s decision was what he expected, but he stood by his objections to the reasons outlined for his dismissal.

Price was informed of the decision to not renew his contract in a letter from Berry on April 18. He was immediately placed on administrative leave for the remainder of his contract, which expires June 30.

As a result of Price’s 2014 complaint, the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights launched an investigation into the district’s compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act.

The district has agreed with the office to assess nearly all of its facilities for compliance and must submit a report by Aug. 31 of its findings and determinations from the self-assessment, according to a nine-page resolution agreement signed April 30 by Berry.