CMS board, principal meet
More than 70 guests attended the termination hearing of Cutter Morning Star Elementary School Principal Jann Gibson Friday evening.
The district called a special board meeting for Friday to determine whether to accept Superintendent Nancy Anderson’s recommendation to terminate Gibson’s employment contract. The meeting began at 5 p.m. and continued past presstime.
Gibson’s attorney, Robert Newcomb, of Little Rock, and attorneys George Bequette and Cody Kees, of Bequette & Billingsley in Little Rock, questioned interim elementary school Principal Terry Lawler for more than an hour and Anderson for
more than an hour.
Also questioned were two parents who filed abuse claims against Gibson.
The district’s termination reasons included accusations of mistreatment of children and a lack of documentation of corporal punishment, as well as scheduling that did not allow teachers the mandated lunch time without duty obligations, nor mandated time allotment for art and music education.
Anderson recommended Gibson be terminated by the district despite Gibson being cleared by the Arkansas Department of Human Services of child maltreatment accusations. Gibson had not been on campus since she was suspended pending an unspecified investigation on Oct. 11.
The Division of Children and Family Services or Arkansas State Police Crimes Against Children Division received two allegations on Oct. 6 involving Gibson, but the DHS ruled the allegations were “not supported by a preponderance of evidence” and both allegations were “determined unsubstantiated.” Gibson was notified of the decisions in letters provided to her on Nov. 27.
Gibson and Kent Wasson, a physical education teacher and coach, were suspended on Oct. 11 by the district pending an unspecified investigation. Wasson returned to campus in November.
A number of supporters were anticipated to lend their voices to Gibson’s cause Friday. The special meeting was called for 5 p.m. on a night when the school hosted four basketball games in Eagle Fieldhouse.
About 60 guests attended a monthly board meeting on Oct. 30 after Gibson and Wasson were suspended. About two dozen attendees wore black shirts with the hashtag #standwithjann.
Frustrated parents asked questions about the district’s leadership and frugality. Board President Mark Rash voiced his support for Anderson at the end of the board’s two-hour regular meeting on Nov. 21.