PRAIRIE GROVE -- Reba Holmes will no longer be considered an interim superintendent of schools for Prairie Grove School District.
The School Board, following an hour-long executive session last week, voted to immediately remove the word "interim" from Holmes' title and named her school superintendent for the 2019-20 school year.
"We thought it was appropriate (to remove interim)," board President Shawn Shrum said after the Jan. 15 meeting.
He said the board only voted on naming Holmes as superintendent through the next school year and will probably keep it that way for now. The board did not discuss a salary. Shrum anticipates board members will discuss Holmes' 2019-20 contract during its February meeting.
Shrum said the board met by itself for about 40 minutes to evaluate Holmes and then called Holmes in for the remainder of the executive session.
The decision was made to have Holmes continue as school superintendent because of her performance this year, Shrum said.
"We've been very happy with what we've heard from everybody, teachers and the community and from us," Shrum said. "She's doing a great job and we want to give her the opportunity to continue."
He added, "We've been impressed with her performance thus far and we want it to continue."
Shrum said several students have commented on how Holmes has dropped in on their classes.
"I think that's impressive," he said.
Shrum said the board discussed goals with Holmes and she's already working on one goal to obtain her superintendent's license.
"That kinda lined up with what we expected," Holmes said.
J.C. Dobbs, board vice president, said so far he's been pleased with everything Holmes has done.
"Obviously, she still has a lot to learn and she would be the first to admit that but she hit the ground running," Dobbs said, adding Holmes had her own ideas and has implemented those ideas.
"From our viewpoint, she's doing a fantastic job. She tells us there's a lot of things to learn and she's not afraid to take on that challenge."
Holmes, for her part, said she is excited to continue in the role, while she admits being a superintendent was not in her plans as an educator.
"I never anticipated being the superintendent," she said the next day. "I thought I'd ride out on my principalship."
Holmes said she thought being a superintendent would take her away from the students. Instead, she has found her relationships with students are continuing because she's visiting all three school buildings.
"I get to go in and eye good teaching and see the kids engaged," Holmes said.
She said board members asked about her goals and Holmes said her goals are the same as those when she served as middle school principal for the past 10 years.
Her goals are to be student focused, collaboration, relationships and results.
"Those fit with the district's mission and fit with our core values," Holmes said. "That's what I want to do as a leader."
Holmes is licensed as an administrator at the building level and is working on her license to be an administrator at the district level through classes at the University of Arkansas. She should achieve this certification in December 2019.
This is Holmes' 26th year with Prairie Grove School District. She started as a classroom teacher, was assistant principal at the intermediate school for two years and then moved to the principal's position at the middle school.
"This is where my heart is, the Prairie Grove Tigers," Holmes said. "My children graduated from here and I'll be here until I retire."
The board named Holmes interim superintendent in July 2017, following a series of executive sessions over a period of about two weeks. The board voted to move former Superintendent Allen Williams into the position of assistant superintendent of finance and replace him with Holmes as interim superintendent.
At the time, Shrum declined to comment on the changes, citing the actions as a personnel issue.
General News on 01/23/2019