By SARAH CAMPBELL
Leader staff writer
Officials have breathed not a word about why Lonoke High School Principal Phynaus Wil-son was suspended with pay pending school board action, but an unconfirmed rumor is circulating in the small town via Facebook and elsewhere.
The rumor is that Wilson was suspended because Super-intendent John Tackett asked him to let outside consultants observe classes at the academically distressed high school, but the two disagreed on bringing in those consultants.
Assistant Principal Mark Hopson has taken over for Wil-son temporarily. He told The Leader he didn’t know how long he would be in that position.
“I don’t have anything to say about this,” he added, when asked if he could confirm the rumor.
The school’s website still lists Wilson as the principal. The Leader has been told Wilson worked his way up from coaching to administration and has been with the district for 30 years.
Tackett and Wilson did not return phone calls to The Leader by press time.
The district has been on the state’s school improvement list for four years.
If the district keeps that designation for a fifth year, it can bring in the state Education Department to improve test scores. But there are no plans in place to have outside parties help to improve scores. Another possibility is extending the school year or day.
Lonoke Benchmark scores for algebra and biology have dropped significantly over the past five years, while literacy scores have skyrocketed and geometry has stayed the same.
Forty percent of Lonoke students scored proficient or advanced in biology for 2009, but that dropped to 27 percent in 2010 and to 22 percent this year. Algebra was up and down, going from 69 percent scoring advanced or proficient in 2009 to 79 percent in 2010 and 63 percent this year.
Meanwhile, 49 percent scored advanced or proficient in literacy for 2009. That score went up to 64 percent in 2010 and is at 71 percent now.
Geometry advanced and proficient scores were 66 percent in 2009, 70 percent in 2010 and were at 68 percent this spring.
Although the reason for the suspension is unclear, Donn Mixon of Mixon Law Firm in Jonesboro released a statement about the incident.
It reads, “He (Wilson) is still a contract employee being paid his usual wages and benefits. I have directed the administration of the district not to share any further information about this matter. The reasons for this action are not subject to the Freedom of Information Act until such time as the school board action is completed.”
The statement also says Wilson has 30 days to request a hearing before the school board, which he can request be public or private, but any vote by the school board will be public. Mixon said, as of Friday, Wilson had not requested a hearing.
If he does request a hearing, it will be scheduled within five to 20 days after the request.
The next school board meeting is at 7 p.m. on Sept. 19. Lonoke school board held a special meeting for personnel on Aug. 22.
The purpose of the meeting was personnel, but no vote on personnel was recorded, according to Lonoke School District’s office.
Lonoke High School has a new $9.3 million campus with 600 students in ninth through 12th grades.
The two-story 74,000 square-foot building at West Academy Street and College Avenue replaces the neighboring 75-year-old high school.
The district received $5.2 million is state partnership funds to build the school. The district is paying off $4.1 million with second-lien bonds.
The info section for a Face-book page titled “Front Street Lonoke,” reads, “Since the news about Coach Wilson broke, a lot of discussion took place. Some were at church, some were on the telephone, and a great deal happened on a few of the Facebook pages that were started in support of Wilson. It seemed most people were in favor of bringing back Coach Wilson.”
The posting went on, “How-ever, when the topic turned to Dr. Tackett, disagreements arose, and pages were either closed, or disagreeing posts (along with their authors) were deleted. That won’t happen here. Feel free to talk about what’s going on in our town. Just try to keep it respectful.”
Posts on the page also claim teachers have been told to keep quiet about the suspension. One response to a reporter asking for someone to go on record with a reason for the action states, “Under threat of suspension? Hmmmmm... No free speech here.”
Another consensus that seems to have been reached on the Facebook page is that there are not many details on the suspension and people want to know what is going on.
Front Street Lonoke posted, “…Problem is, not too many details are being given to the public, as it took Dr. Tackett until today (Wednesday) to release a statement on this situation, which took place last week.”
Others said things like, “Let’s all remember that transparency is a good thing,” and, “Just saying that if they don’t/aren’t divulging what is going on there is something fishy going on.”
Other comments, such as, “I am not a ‘muzzled dog’ but I do choose to respect the wishes of the administration regardless of my personal opinions. It is called being a professional,“ and “I understand it is a personnel issue that can’t be discussed.” Many support keeping the lid on the issue.
Several students wearing “We want Wilson” T-shirts protested Wilson’s suspension this week. They spoke favorably of the principal and demanded the superintendent explain why Wilson was suspended.
