Search firm BWP has complied with an Arkansas Freedom of Information Act request from the NEA Town Courier, releasing the names of the 16 candidates who have applied for the Blytheville School District superintendent position.
The applicants include Dr. Jerry Bell of Peoria, Ill., Emmanuel Blair of Memphis, Dr. Garrett Brundage of Conyers, Ga., Dr. Kirk Freeman of Maumelle, Dr. Larry Gray of Belleville, Mich., Anthony Hamlet of Pittsburgh, Dr. Jackson Lloyd of Kansas City, Dr. Link Luttrell of Festus, Mo., Dr. Veronica Perkins of Sherwood, Barbara Sharp of East St. Louis, Ill., Jeff Spaletta of Las Cruces, NM, Dr. Carl Stephen of West Memphis, Dr. Laura Strickland of Helena, Dr. Jeff Thake of Amboy, Ill., Trenton Watson of Collierville, Tenn., and Dr. Sabrina Winfrey of Anniston, Ala.
Bell is the executive director of middle schools at Peoria Public Schools.
Blair currently serves as principal of Compass Community Schools-Midtown in Memphis.
Brundage last served as high school principal at Savannah Chatham County Public School System before retiring in May 2021.
Kirk is a principal in the West Memphis School District.
Gray is currently high school principal in the Detroit Public Schools Community District.
Hamlet’s application says he was superintendent of Pittsburgh Public Schools from July 2016-October 2021, though lists no reason for leaving.
Jackson is currently assistant superintendent of school leadership at Kansas City Public Schools.
Luttrell is the superintendent of Festus School District.
Perkins is the deputy superintendent at Forrest City School District. Sharp is the professional development coordinator at Riverview Gardens School District in St. Louis.
Spaletta is the coordinator of human resources at Las Cruces Public Schools. Stephen is the keyboarding teacher at North East Middle School in Jackson, Tenn. Strickland is the deputy superintendent at Helena West Helena School District. Thake was the superintendent at Williston (ND) Basin School District 7 from July 2021 to November 2021, noting his reason for leaving was “negotiated separation, non-disparagement agreement with D7 school board after merging 2 districts.”
Watson is currently the director of operations for Memphis Academy of Science and Engineering.
Winfrey is the executive director of Anniston City School System.
BWP plans to present the Blytheville School Board with 4-7 candidates to interview the week of Feb. 28.
In January, Dr. Debra Hill, managing director of BWP Associates, told the Blytheville School Board that board members alone would have access to the applications.
“We have people who have tried to FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) the list of applicants,” Dr. Hill told the Blytheville School Board last month. “Because it is property of BWP, because the applicant is applying to us on your behalf, then that is not considered public information. We need to clarify that from the very beginning because people do get nosey, and they want to see who is out there and who applied. Often that jeopardizes the candidate pool…We’ve had situations where their names were leaked and careers were ruined. Nobody wants that.”
However, the NEA Town Courier included a 2018 Arkansas Attorney General opinion with its FOIA request that reads, in part, “when the firm accepts applications for the superintendent position, it is acting as the functional equivalent of the district."
The April 13, 2018 opinion from Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge was a response to a question from Rep. Monte Hodges (D-Blytheville) regarding the Blytheville School Board's previous superintendent opening, when it ultimately hired Bobby Ashley who retired in June 2021.
"While we are always reticent to share this personnel information prior to the Board’s selection of semi-finalist candidates, we will adhere to the law in spite of the jeopardy it presents in securing interested and qualified candidates for Board consideration," Dr. Hill wrote in an email to the newspaper. "These applicants may only be exploring their professional options and publication of their interest may jeopardize their current position and employment status."