School Board affirms teacher’s termination following accusation

PEA RIDGE — At the end of a two-hour School Board meeting, board members unanimously voted to uphold the recommendation of school superintendent Keith Martin to terminate art teacher John McGee.

Personnel may request a closed session for a hearing. McGee requested an open session.

For 1 ½ hours, Marshall Ney, attorney for the School District, and Renee Johnson, UniServ director for the Arkansas Educators Association who was representing McGee, presented information to board members who then retired into a half-hour executive session before returning to voice the verdict.

McGee, a 47-year education veteran, was accused of using a “racial slur” on Oct. 31. He was suspended Nov. 1 and has been on paid leave since then. He was also accused of being a “repeat offender” due to an allegation from March 2022.

A memo dated March 28, with the subject of “formal reprimand for conduct in the classroom” was presented stating McGee had referred to “dark-skinned people” in class. McGee was suspended from March 7 to March 18, then given a formal growth plan.

McGee said his comment concerning skin color was in reference to answering students’ questions about his surgery for skin cancer and he explained that he was prone to skin cancer since he was light skinned. He said he was told by school officials that the allegations in March were “uncorroborated” and he was given additional work to complete, which he said he did.

“They said uncorroborated, but now they’re saying repeat,” he said.

McGee said he was willing to retire but was not willing to be branded a racist. He denied using the derogatory word and said he has “never used that word in my life.”

“That never happened,” McGee said. “I’ve never used the … word in my life. I’ve never called a kid anything but his name. My daughterin-law is Black. I have Black grandkids. I am not a racist.”

“Do you believe people can have Black friends and still be racist?” asked Ney. “Do you believe people can have Black relatives and still be racist?”

“I don’t know,” McGee said, “but I’m not.”

McGee said he was told he could retire and avoid the public knowing about the incident but said he didn’t want to be falsely labeled a racist.

Ney said the school officials rejected accepting his retirement at end of year because they don’t believe it’s acceptable. He said the superintendent, as chief executive officer of the district, needs board support to uphold the recommendation and to be able to effectively run the district.

Ney presented statements derived from interviews between school officials and students in which some students said McGee said racial words.

“I’m not racist. I think that people who are racist are dirty people. … I’ve seen racists in my time,” McGee said, explaining that he lost his first job standing up for Black students. “I’ve always stood up for Black kids, for any kids, it doesn’t matter if they’re Black or white.”

“I’ve never had a problem with a Black person my entire life. … I’m really concerned about the end of my career being labeled racist after all the things I’ve done for kids. That’s not me,” he said.

Johnson presented 10 letters from people with and for whom McGee had worked stating he would not use that language nor had that kind of character.

Ney, in his closing statement, told board members they needed to decide whether there is a preponderance of evidence that McGee made those remarks.

“You have to decide tonight. … Your superintendent is the one who oversaw the investigation and believes it his heart of hearts … this is what he needs to be able to run this district,” Ney said. “Tomorrow, the superintendent has to go back and manage his district. You don’t manage the district day to day. If you think he does a bad job, deal with that. … If you don’t, you should affirm it.”

Johnson said the students’ statements were not consistent and that the first four statements given on the day of the alleged incident were conflicting. She said board members should “strongly consider Mr. McGee’s strong motivation to be here tonight … it would have been so much easier for him to retire. He had four months left of 47 years.”

McGee was hired as an art teacher in 1998 for Pea Ridge schools and was named Pea Ridge teacher of the year in 2004.