Court Lifts Stay On Buyout Of Fired School Superintendent
Last updated Tuesday, August 28, 2007 8:21 PM CDT in News
By Andrew DeMillo
The Associated Press
LITTLE ROCK -- The Arkansas Supreme Court said Tuesday a $635,000 buyout the Little Rock School Board approved for its fired superintendent can proceed, reversing the temporary stay it issued last week.
The court had previously halted the buyout, but attorneys for the school district said nearly all the money had already been paid to former Superintendent Roy Brooks. The one-page order issued Tuesday afternoon did not explain why the stay was lifted.
A group of parents sought the temporary injunction preventing the payments until the court can hear their complaints over the buyout. The court, which is on break, commences its fall term next month but took up the case early.
The parents appealed Pulaski County Judge Tim Fox's ruling that the Little Rock School Board did not abuse its discretion when it voted in May to dismiss Brooks and pay him money he would have received under his contract, which was set to expire June 30, 2009.
The board voted last week to buy out Brooks' contract. Justices issued a stay Friday halting the payments, but attorneys for the district said in a separate filing that $580,909 had already been distributed.
The court also denied the parents' attempt to expedite their appeal of Brooks' buyout.
Chip Welch, an attorney for the school district, said he was pleased with the court's ruling. The district has asked justices to dismiss the appeal.
"I think that court recognized our argument that it was too late to stay the payment to Dr. Brooks and therefore the stay order was moot," Welch said.
The lawsuit filed by a group of parents in the state's largest school district claimed that state law prohibits using public money on severance pay or spending public money when no value is received in return.
Brooks' last day as superintendent was Thursday. Linda Watson began work Friday as interim superintendent of the 26,000-student district.
Brooks did not immediately return a call seeking comment Tuesday.
Board President Katherine Mitchell has said Brooks, who is black, has been nonresponsive to black school patrons, encouraged some teachers to leave their union and worked on draft state legislation without the board's approval. The four black board members, including Mitchell, voted to fire Brooks; its white members voted to keep him.
The dispute over Brooks' future comes as the city prepares next month to mark the 50th anniversary of the desegregation of Little Rock Central High School.
Earlier Tuesday, Welch objected to a letter attorneys for the parents had sent to Brooks, the school district's chief financial officer, and others, saying that anyone who "executes, transfers or negotiates" any payments in the school chief's buyout could be held in contempt of court.
John P. Gill, an attorney for the parents, did not immediately return a call seeking comment.
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