Interim schools chief gets to work.
NLR’s McGee taking district helm in uncertain times
Keith McGee, the newly appointed interim superintendent of the North Little Rock School District, is focusing on closing out of the current 2019-20 school year and opening the upcoming 2020-21 school year at a time when such tasks are anything but routine.
The North Little Rock School Board, at a special meeting Monday night, selected McGee to serve as the district’s interim chief and, in a second 7-0 vote, approved a contract for him.
McGee, 47, has been the district’s assistant superintendent and director of secondary education since December.
He previously worked for more than 20 years in various teaching and school leadership positions in the Little Rock School District, most recently as principal at Horace Mann Arts and Sciences Magnet Middle School.
The Brinkley native said Tuesday that he is making it his priority to follow Arkansas Department of Education guidelines to ensure that no educational harm is done to North Little Rock students this spring, that their learning continues and they have opportunities to improve their grades in a year in which in-school instruction was abruptly halted in mid-March by the threat of the contagious and potentially fatal covid-19 infection.
For the coming year, plans are being made for systematically and thoroughly sanitizing the school campuses “so students and their parents feel comfortable sending their kids back,” he said. At the same time the district must prepare for both a relatively normal opening of the school year but also have an alternative plan ready for virtual, online instruction for students, should that again be necessary to mitigate any ongoing spread of the virus.
In his new interim role, McGee will be paid a salary of up to $140,000 a year, prorated for the days he works short of a full year, according to the terms of the new contract.
The contract states that it was in effect as of May 1, which was Friday and before Monday when the agreement was actually approved by the School Board.
The contract does not include a specific end date for McGee’s work as an interim leader, but it does state that when it is terminated, McGee shall return to his position as assistant superintendent.
“This contract may be terminated by either party at any time with or without cause,” the contract states.
“A termination of the contract by Interim Superintendent shall be accomplished by Interim Superintendent providing the Board with 30 days’ written notice.”
“A termination of the contract by the Board without cause shall be accomplished by written notice of the termination from the Board to Interim Superintendent. Such notice of termination may be effective immediately or upon a stated date no greater than thirty (30) days in the future.
“Upon such termination, Interim Superintendent shall immediately return to his position as Assistant Superintendent at the level of compensation he would have attained had he remained in that position during the term of this contract,” the contract says.
The married father of two sons — one just graduated from Arkansas State University and the other a freshman at Little Rock Parkview Magnet High, said he was attracted to the North Little Rock School District by its reputation.
“I’ve always been impressed with how they treat their students and their staff, and the pride they have in being part of the North Little Rock family,” he said of the 8,000-student district.
Asked if he will be an applicant for the full time superintendent position, McGee said he hasn’t yet given that an adequate amount of thought to be able to say.
McGee’s career started in 1998 as a teacher at Little Rock’s Central High, where he taught civics and coached basketball and track. From 2006 to 2011, he was an assistant principal and building athletic director at Mann Magnet Midde School. From 2011 to 2013, he headed the Little Rock district’s alternative education programs at Felder and Hamilton learning centers. He returned to Mann as principal in July 2013. Additionally, since 2017, he has been a consultant to Fetterman & Associates, which is a school improvement organization.