The Conway School Board overwhelmingly agreed to give the new interim superintendent a one-year contract at $230,000 with normal benefits.
Just over a week after the board decided to buy out the two-year contract of now-former Superintendent Jeff Collum, the decision on Jason Black’s contract came near the close of a roughly four-hour meeting on Tuesday night.
Notably, the contract aims to avoid a recurrence of the side-hustle scandal that plagued Collum’s tenure and involved Black.
According to the contract, the Interim Superintendent will focus entirely on carrying out his responsibilities as outlined in this agreement for the duration of this agreement, excluding any other profitable employment or profession, including but not limited to consulting for third parties.
In 2024, Collum gained notoriety for his school safety company, Triad Consultants, of which Black was once featured on the now-defunct website as a team member.
Black also formed a company, JB6 Consulting LLC, as we have reported. He submitted the necessary paperwork for that business on December 2, 2023, according to the Arkansas Secretary of State’s website. It’s unknown if JB6 and Triad have a relationship. As of Thursday, JB6 was classified as being in excellent standing.
One of Black’s contract benefits is a $1,000 monthly travel stipend that he can use in his own car.
The entire contract is available here.
Additionally, board members decided to adopt a new clause permitted under state law: six-year terms. They may have voted for four-year terms instead. Linda Hargis, Dr. David Naylor Jr., and Trip Leach voted against six-year terms.
In recent months, Collum has faced criticism from individuals who claim he spent too much money on central office expenses while ignoring the needs of instructors and kids, particularly those with low reading proficiency.
On Tuesday evening, the board decided to have additional authority over hiring decisions made in the central office. In order to guarantee that the board authorizes any new FTE full-time equivalent administrative roles prior to their creation, it enacted a policy.
It’s dragon-slaying time!
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