Prairie Grove administrator under fire

Allen Williams
Allen Williams

The assistant superintendent of Prairie Grove Schools is suspended and his contract is in dispute after he received a letter of termination last week, according to his attorney.

Allen Williams, assistant superintendent of finance, received a letter from Superintendent Reba Holmes stating he is suspended and that she plans to recommend the school board terminate his contract, his attorney Jerry Lovelace said Friday.

Holmes declined to confirm the letter had been sent. Williams declined to comment and referred all questions to his attorney.

Williams is starting the second year of a three-year contract, which extends through the 2020-2021 school year, Lovelace said. The problems started last year when a personality conflict with some school board members caused Williams to be demoted from superintendent to assistant superintendent, Lovelace said.

"This was based on a personality conflict with the school board; there was no criticism of job performance when he was demoted last year and now there is a dispute over his contract," Lovelace said. "Dr. Williams feels like he's fulfilling his contract."

Williams was initially hired as superintendent in 2010, according to his resume. In July 2018, the school board voted to demote him after a series of four executive sessions over a two-week period, according to the Washington County Enterprise-Leader. Board members did not release any information about the change at the time, saying the decision was a personnel issue, the newspaper reported.

Lovelace said Williams received only positive performance reviews for the eight years he served as superintendent.

The school district website indicates Williams' contract for the 2019-2020 school year pays an annual salary of $135,031.

Holmes said the school board's next scheduled meeting is Aug. 20, but did not say whether Williams' contract will be discussed at the meeting. Lovelace said the letter did not state when the contract will go before the board.

NW News on 08/10/2019