Williams Gives Perspectives On CCSD Under LEARNS

RISON - Incoming Cleveland County School District Superintendent Jerrod Williams, who will begin his one-year contract on July 1, said he is "apprehensive" about what the future holds for smaller school districts under Gov. Sarah Sanders' new LEARNS education plan set to begin in the next school year. Williams discussed that and other topics during an interview with the Herald this week. He agreed to the one-year contract two days after the Cleveland County School Board unanimously approved offering him the job on March 28. Cleveland County's current superintendent, Craig Dupuy, will be stepping down at the end of his contract on June 30 to become an assistant superintendent for the Benton School District. Williams said he was able to meet with Dupuy for the first time on Monday. He said he will take some vacation days from his current job to make additional visits before taking over. Here is an overview of what Williams said in regard to his firing at Sheridan and LEARNS: Sheridan Firing Williams has served as a grants administrator for the Arkansas River Education Cooperative at Pine Bluff over the past year. Prior to that, he was was superintendent of the nearly 4,200-student Sheridan School District from 2014 through February 2022. In mid-December 2021, Williams was suspended with pay as the Sheridan superintendent and was eventually terminated from his contract by a unanimous vote of the Sheridan School Board in February 2022. The Sheridan School District never revealed an official reason for his suspension nor his subsequent dismissal. The Sheridan School Board, according to the Sheridan Headlight, agreed to pay Williams $177,000 in a settlement following his dismissal. That amount covered the remainder of his 2022 contract as well as one of the two years that were left on his overall contract. When asked about the firing, ...