EDITOR'S NOTE: This is the first of eight articles about the termination hearing and ultimate firing of Jann Gibson, principal of Cutter Morning Star Elementary School. The Cutter Morning Star School District held the hearing from 5 p.m. Friday to almost 1:20 a.m. Saturday. Board members voted at the end of the hearing to fire Gibson.
Members of the Cutter Morning Star School Board voted at around 1:10 a.m. Saturday, following an eight-plus hour hearing, to accept the recommendation of Superintendent Nancy Anderson to terminate the contract of employment of Jann Gibson, the elementary school principal.
More than 70 guests were present for the start of the meeting at 5 p.m. Friday, aside from the board members, administrative personnel and three to five deputies from the Garland County Sheriff's Department who rotated in and out of the meeting throughout the night. The Eagles also hosted four home basketball games throughout the evening against Poyen. More than 60 guests were present to hear the final determination at about 1:18 a.m.
The board voted to assess all seven of the district's reasons to recommend termination as true. The district's administration provided a packet for the board and Gibson's attorney, Robert Newcomb, of Little Rock, to outline the reasons for Anderson's recommendation. Attorneys Jay Bequette and Cody Kees, of the Bequette & Billingsley law firm in Little Rock, presented the administration's case. Accepting the allegations as true provided the board with cause to terminate Gibson's contract.
Board President Mark Rash, Secretary Donna Fincher and board member Sandy Walker voted to accept all seven reasons as true. Eddy Slick, vice president of the board, voted to accept all seven accusations, save for one. Board member Jared Hawthorn voted against six of the seven reasons.
Rash, Slick, Fincher and Walker voted to fire Gibson. Hawthorn was the only board member opposed.
The newspaper submitted a request under Arkansas' Freedom of Information Act at 2:16 a.m. Saturday for the packet developed by the administration for the hearing. The request had not been fulfilled by presstime Saturday night.
At least two of the reasons involved alleged physical abuse of two elementary school students. The mothers of both students testified for almost 20 minutes each during the hearing on Friday.
The Sentinel-Record follows The Associated Press privacy guidelines, and does not identify possible juvenile victims of abuse, or the names of their parents, which could potentially identify them. Both parents stated their names during the hearing and the names of both children were publicly stated multiple times by various officials.
Gibson was informed on Nov. 27 by the Arkansas Department of Human Services she had been cleared of child maltreatment accusations in both cases. She and Kent Wasson, a physical education teacher and coach, were suspended on Oct. 11 by the district pending an investigation.
A gag order enforced by the district prevented either employees to discuss their personnel matters with anyone. Wasson returned to campus earlier in November.
Gibson received a termination letter on Nov. 2. Certified school employees recommended by the superintendent for termination can request open or closed hearing. Gibson requested an open hearing and reaffirmed her preference for an open hearing at the start of the meeting on Monday.
The parents of the two children in question testified about the alleged abuse caused in one case by Wasson in a paddling witnessed by Gibson and another paddling by Gibson witnessed by Haley Thornton, a first-grade teacher. Anderson said she did not have knowledge of the cases until shortly before she made the decision to suspend Gibson and Wasson.
The testimony of the teachers and Anderson were contradicted by multiple school personnel, as well as Garland County sheriff's Deputy Mark Kizer, a 20-year veteran of law enforcement. He was the district's school resource officer.
School nurse Katee Fendley, administrative assistant Pam Jackson and first-grade teacher Haley Thornton each directly contradicted statements made by the parents, as did Kizer. Newcomb said Anderson made no attempts to corroborate the parents' claims with the office and school personnel.
Kizer claimed Anderson accused him of "sleeping with" Gibson. Library media specialist Heather Hughes said Anderson directed a staff member to install a secret recording device in the library, and guests of the meeting alleged Kees attempted to coax Fendley into a violation of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 when he asked her to assess a picture of a student's bottom provided by his mother after he was paddled.
Fendley said the Arkansas State Board of Nursing advised her not to make such assessments in an open hearing. Attorney Sharon Street, who represented the school board and moderated the meeting, said Fendley refused to answer the question and advised Kees to move to another question.
Kees also questioned Terry Lawler, the interim principal of the elementary school, to provide information about the district's allegations of a lack of documentation of corporal punishment, inadequate lunch time without duty obligations for faculty members and a master schedule that did not provide the mandated time allotment for art and music education. Anderson said the development of the school schedule is ultimately the responsibility of the principal.
Lawler, Anderson and Gibson, the final testifier of the hearing, were each questioned by the attorneys for more than an hour. A total of 13 testifiers were questioned between 5 p.m. and 11:23 p.m., when Kees, Newcomb and Bequette delivered their final arguments. The board adjourned into an executive session at 11:50 p.m. and returned for the final vote at 1:08 a.m.
Local on 12/17/2017