Bryant superintendent emerges as top choice to replace New
Posted on Thursday, April 3, 2008
Richard Abernathy applied for the Fayetteville Schools District superintendent position on the last day to file an application. Now he will be the first and only candidate interviewed.
In a meeting Wednesday evening, the Fayetteville Board of Education voted 7-0 to narrow the number of candidates from four to one following a closed session that lasted nearly 90 minutes.
After the vote, school board President Steve Percival then called for a recess to make a phone call. When the board reconvened 10 minutes later, he announced that finalist as Abernathy, who is currently superintendent of the Bryant School District.
Two of the four candidates, Sarasota County (Fla. ) School District Superintendent Gary Norris and Michael Brophy of Spanaway, Wash., have reportedly taken other jobs.
The board decided not to interview the other candidate, Fayetteville Associate Superintendent Randy Willison.
Percival didn't give any details on what prompted the board not to interview Willison. Asked if he wanted Willison to continue working as associate superintendent, Percival said," Absolutely."
An interview date was not immediately set, but Percival said he hoped it could be scheduled soon. The plan has been to hire a superintendent-elect who would start working next school year and officially take over in the summer of 2009 when current Superintendent Bobby New retires.
Based on a suggestion by Vice President Howard Hamilton, the board will probably interview Abernathy first, Percival said. He would then be introduced to the public and given a second interview by the board if a follow-up interview is granted, he said.
Although the vote to make Abernathy the only finalist was unanimous, the vote to interview him was 5-2 with members Becky Purcell and Tim Hudson dissenting.
Purcell and Hudson lamented that while Abernathy seemed well-qualified, they weren't comfortable proceeding without a broader pool of candidates. Purcell suggested the board enlist a search firm to find the next superintendent.
"It would just help me to interview more than one person," she said.
"It's not because I don't think he's a great candi- date. The process put us in a bind," Hudson said. The board received 11 applications for the position. Resumes were sent directly to Percival. Abernathy's application was one of the last received on Feb. 29. If the board decides not to hire Abernathy or if he decides not to accept the job, the search process will start over, Percival said.
Finalist background According to his resume, Abernathy, 43, has been superintendent of Bryant since 2003. He said the district has 7, 150 students in pre-kindergarten through 12 th grade.
One challenge Abernathy has faced as superintendent was his district's takeover of the smaller Paron School District following the passage of a new consolidation law in 2004. Paron High School has closed, but the district is still operating an elementary school there.
Before going to Bryant, Abernathy was superintendent of the Paris School District, which had an enrollment of 1, 170 students, from 2000 to 2003.
He was an assistant superintendent in Ozark from 1998 to 2000, high school principal in Clarksville from 1997-1998 and principal of Lavaca High School from 1993 to 1997. He started his career in Alma as a high school math teacher and coach in 1987.
He received all of his education-related degrees, from his bachelor's to his doctorate, through the University of Arkansas. He graduated from Mena High School in 1983.
Abernathy said he comes from a long line of school administrators, which is one of the reasons he pursued that career track. His grandfather was superintendent of Oden Public Schools, and his father was the Mena superintendent for many years.
On the superintendentelect approach to the Fayetteville job, Abernathy described it as unique, but he said he knows New and they could work well together during the transition.
"There are some superintendents with whom I would not try that at all," he said," but I'm looking at it as a long-term relationship. It also has to be right for my family as well."
Abernathy said he also knows Willison, as they have been in some classes together at the University of Arkansas.
He said he also once interviewed for an assistant principal position with board member John Delap when Delap was principal at Fayetteville High School.
Some of the factors that he said prompted him to apply to be the superintendentelect included his familiarity with Northwest Arkansas and the quality of the school system.
"My wife and I both graduated from the University of Arkansas," he said.
In common Similarities between Bryant and Fayetteville include recent efforts to attain Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design ratings from the U. S. Green Building Council on new construction projects. Abernathy said his district's new Bethel Middle School was awarded a LEEDsilver certification, and the district is attempting to get a new elementary school LEED-certified. The Fayetteville School District is planning a major remodel and addition to Butterfield Trail Elementary next year, and the administration is seeking to get the facility LEED-certified once the upgrade is finished.
Like Fayetteville, Bryant High School competes in the 7 A athletic division.
Also like Fayetteville, the Bryant School District had discussed upgrading its high school facilities. Bryant voters in September rejected a proposed 6. 2-mill tax increase, most of which would have gone to new additions at the high school. Fayetteville officials are still debating the future of FHS, and no millage election has been set.
One of New's predecessors, Winston Simpson, left Fayetteville in 1994 to become superintendent of Bryant. Simpson said he stayed in that position until 2000, three years before Abernathy's tenure began.
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