A standing room only crowd filled the Pine Bluff School District Administrative Office board room Wednesday evening to participate in the open forum hosted by the school board.
Board president Herman Horace explained that the event wasn’t a regular school board meeting.
“This is a community forum that the business people of Pine Bluff wanted to find out which way the board was carrying the district,” he said.
Nellums
District parent Reola Moore was the first of many to bring up the controversial board vote at the May regular board meeting approving Superintendent Jerry Payne’s recommendation to hire Michael Nellums, the former Mills High School principal in the Pulaski County Special School District, to be the new principal of Pine Bluff High School.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
Nellums was investigated by prosecutors while an educator in Pulaski County.
“I received a letter I believe from Mr. Payne that talked about moving the Pine Bluff School District from good to great,” Moore said. “I don’t understand how you can have that idea and hire Michael Nellums over Earleen Collins. Ms. Collins was there when I was in school. Why was Ms. Collins looked over? The board hired Nellums from Little Rock. There are things about him on the Internet that are not good.”
Dorothy McFadden also criticized the board vote for hiring Nellums over Collins.
“I’m here tonight to discuss several things,” McFadden said. “I went to Greenville Elementary School and graduated from Merrill High School. I was employed with the school district for 16 years. Why was Earleen Collins passed up as principal? I have known this woman for years. She is a stellar performer. Very bright. I know that there is a war on women but I would hate to think that this was done to hurt her. If he [Nellums] has not signed the employment contract yet do the right thing and hire Earleen Collins.”
Kymara Seals said one of her children is beginning the 11th grade at Pine Bluff High School this fall.
“There are a number of parents who are upset with the hiring of Michael Nellums as the new principal of Pine Bluff High School,” Seals said.
Seals read a letter that she has circulated among patrons and signed by district parents addressed to Payne and the members of the school board outlining concerns over the Nellums hiring and the perceived snub of Collins for the principal’s position.
“The situation of the scheme that Mr. Nellums was involved in to discredit one of his own school board members, who was a colleague of his, is absolutely appalling,” Seals read. “Such behavior by professionals in any career, but especially in the business of educating children, should not be tolerated.”
“It is quite puzzling as to why well qualified individuals who are already serving in such capacity were passed over in the process for high school principal,” Seals read. “Specifically, we are referencing Ms. Earleen Collins who serves as assistant principal and is one of the most highly qualified educational professionals in the district.”
Seals said that the letter has been signed by 30 parents so far but that many others have expressed an interest in signing their names to the letter.
Longtime PBHS art teacher Virginia Hymes reiterated the concerns about not hiring Collins.
“I am a teacher at Pine Bluff High School,” Hymes said. “I have been there for 36 years. I love that school. There are a lot of teachers who care about that school. The teachers at Pine Bluff High School have signed a letter too. I’m there for the children. My concern is this; are teachers ever considered when it comes to decisions that are made that affect children? We know Earleen Collins and what she offers. She is a hard working woman. I guess we thought she was going to be principal in the fall. It’s always right to do what’s right.”
Board member Donna Barnes responded by saying that Nellums was recommended to the board by Payne.
“So, this is the superintendent that you have concerns about and want to remove but then you decide to take his recommendation?” Hymes asked.
McKissic
Attorney Gene McKissic, who orchestrated the petition campaign seeking the open forum with the school board, spoke.
“Let me thank this crowd for showing up,” McKissic said. “This shows that our request to have it at the Convention Center to allow everyone some degree of comfort was required. We have people that can’t even get in tonight. I cannot do what I need to do in three minutes (time allotted to speak.) I appreciate the ‘main street group’ for coming. Mr. (Luther) Sutter (the district’s attorney) and I have worked on a proposal for me to address the concerns we have on behalf of the business community and other members of the community with the board at the next meeting of the board.”
Redus
Pine Bluff Mayor Carl A. Redus Jr. addressed the board.
“I am here on behalf of the concerned citizens of Pine Bluff,” Redus said. “Although I have no responsibility for the school district, people have called me with their concerns. I do have a son in the school district. The common thread I hear from people is that there is a lack of student focus with the board and the administration. We must realize the importance of a quality education to the community. Education goes hand in hand with economic development. I ask that you continue to listen to the parents and teachers of this district. We must have a strategic direction for this community.”
Defense of Cheney principal
Several people spoke in defense of W.T. Cheney principal Gregory Moore, who was not rehired in that capacity for the next school year.
Vic Mosby*** said that he had a child at W.T. Cheney and he felt that Moore had done a good job.
“I have watched and observed Mr. Moore and he has a genuine concern for children,” Mosbey said. “Everyone makes mistakes. To not give a person the opportunity to try to correct it if he has done anything wrong then you are not right.”
Southwood Elementary principal Alfred Carroll also spoke on behalf of Moore.
“Mr. Moore is somewhat of a mathematical wizard,” Carroll said. “He is a man of character. Mr. Moore has some physical limitations but he walks his campus every day in the winter and in the rain.”
Other issues
James Evans, a bus driver for the school district, asked about unemployment benefits.
“My issue, Mr. Payne, is that as a bus driver I work for nine months and for the other three months you say we can’t file for unemployment,” Evans said. “I’ve got a family.”
Evans did not receive an answer to his question from Payne, who was in the audience, or from any members of the board.
***This article has been corrected from its original version to correct an incorrect name. Click here to view the correction notice.