A challenge by a Pine Bluff School District resident over whether the district board’s president resides in the zone he represents is being taken to Circuit Court.
Eric Mayfield filed a complaint with the Arkansas Ethics Commission suggesting Sederick Charles Rice does not live within Zone 4 of the district. Rice has served in that seat on the board since December 2022, when the Arkansas Board of Education appointed a limited-authority board for the district, and has been the board president since then. The board was granted full authority in September 2023 after five years under state supervision.
“I’ve had a citizen come to my home when I wasn’t there, daytime and night, taking pictures, interviewing my neighbors as if he was a private investigator,” Rice said during Monday’s board meeting. “I’ve already talked to the sheriff as well as a couple of my law enforcement friends about that policy … emailed those pictures to the state Board of Education of my home, as well as Secretary (Jacob) Oliva and the media.” Oliva is the state secretary of education.
Mayfield did not address Rice’s claims of taking and emailing pictures and interviewing neighbors. Rice submitted copies of recent bills mailed to his home in Zone 4 to The Commercial.
Ethics Commission Director Graham Sloan sent results of the commission’s findings to both Rice and Mayfield. In a letter to Rice, Sloan indicated the commission voted 4-0, with one commissioner not present, to dismiss the complaint, “based upon a finding that the matters alleged in the complaint, even if true, would not constitute a violation of laws under the Ethics Commission’s jurisdiction.” An email Sloan sent to Mayfield indicated that Sloan determined the complaint met the basic requirements of a valid complaint.
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“The Commission reviewed the complaint at its meeting on Oct. 17 and found that the matters alleged, if true, would not constitute a violation of any of the legal authorities under its jurisdiction,” Sloan wrote in the email. “The making of such a decision rests in their authority, not mine.”
Mayfield said he would escalate the matter to Circuit Court. Mayfield clarified he filed the complaint because it was brought to his attention Rice supposedly didn’t live at the address. “It wasn’t anything I was looking for,” Mayfield said.
Mayfield added he believes in fairness and wants to help out those that he can. “Nothing I do is intentional or meant to put harm or feign to the school district,” he said. “I know the school district has potential. I feel like a lot of things are overlooked.”
Rice said during the board meeting: “I’m not afraid of Circuit Court. I’m not afraid of the attorney general’s office. … What I’m not going to do is allow someone to convince me that I don’t live at my mother’s house, which I do.”
In a September email to board members, Rice explained he left a teaching position at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff to take care of his youngest daughter, whom he said has some special needs, and enroll her in the Jacksonville North Pulaski School District, which puts her closer to other services she needs. Rice, who now works as a STEM teacher in Jacksonville, said he commutes from Pine Bluff every day and pays taxes, votes and maintains a residence in his childhood home.
An item on the board agenda listed a resolution “Regarding Domicile of Board Member,” but the resolution was tabled without opposition after Rice recused himself and Vice President Ricky Whitmore Jr. declined to sign the resolution.
“Since looking over the resolution, I realize I was not present at the time when the board of directors other than me had received statements from President Dr. Rice. So, with that being said, I don’t think I should be the one that signs the resolution,” Whitmore said.
Rice said he respects the decision to table the resolution.
“If God didn’t want me on the board, I wouldn’t be here,” Rice said.
“If God didn’t want either of these board members here, we wouldn’t be here. If God didn’t want the superintendent here, we would not be here. So, I appreciate the efforts, but I’m going to serve until God tells me my time is up. I’m going to leave it right there and keep it professional.”
IN OTHER DISTRICT BUSINESS
The district board elected to extend a professional development and support contract to education nonprofit TNTP using expiring federal funds. TNTP will be used for support services and principal support in growing Tier 1 instruction, PBSD Superintendent Jennifer Barbaree said.
James Matthews and Broadmoor elementaries will upgrade camera and monitoring equipment using federal Cox and state safety grants. The district will purchase equipment from Progressive Technologies for the upgrades. Intercom systems at multiple campuses will be upgraded using the Cox grant, of which the district was awarded $400,000, according to Barbaree.
Facilities committee chairman and Zone 5 board member Charles Colen reported renovation of the track at the original Pine Bluff High School has been completed. Colen said he is hoping to come up with estimates for upgrades to Jordan Stadium by the next School Board meeting.
Head football Coach Micheal Williams remains on paid administrative leave as an investigation announced earlier this month is still ongoing, Barbaree said. She said in an Oct. 8 statement: “While the District cannot comment on specific personnel matters, we recognize the importance of addressing the academic integrity within our athletic program. The District is aware of concerns related to these issues and is actively investigating the matter in coordination with appropriate agencies.”