Dupuy Leaving CCSD for Benton

RISON - The Cleveland County School Board formally accepted the resignation of Superintendent Craig Dupuy effective at the end of his current contract on June 30 during its regular monthly meeting Tuesday night. Dupuy, who started his job with Cleveland County in July 2018, has accepted a job as assistant superintendent for the Benton School District. He said the decision to pursue the job was strictly a career move to get on with a larger school district as an assistant superintendent with aspirations of perhaps becoming a superintendent at a larger district someday. He said he was also attracted to the idea of reuniting with Dr. Larry Smith, who served as the superintendent for the White Hall School District from 2006 through 2018. Dupuy worked as an assistant superintendent under Smith while at White Hall. There was not much fanfare about his resignation during Tuesday night's meeting since Dupuy had revealed the news to school board members and teaching staff last week after the Benton School Board had approved his hiring on Feb. 13. After meeting in executive session for about 30 minutes, Dupuy read off his resignation as the first personnel matter and the board unanimously approved Helen Browning's motion to accept it. There was no public discussion on the resignation. Over his five years as superintendent, Dupuy guided the district through some tumultuous times, including the COVID-19 pandemic, the consolidation of Kingsland Elementary to the Rison campus, and two unsuccessful bids to secure a 5-mill tax increase to fund some school construction projects. On the academic side, the Cleveland County School District has thrived under his leadership, ranking at or near the top in student test scores among all school districts across Southeast Arkansas. And he was also able to strengthen Rison High School's on-campus business and vocational training. When he arrived in 2018, Dupuy s...