Lawsuit filed in Northside’s Coach Curry reassignment

Felix Curry has filed a lawsuit against the Fort Smith Public School District for unlawfully being reassigned from his position as head football coach and athletic coordinator at Northside High School.

Curry was named the head football coach at Northside in 2022 after the retirement of Mike Falluer. He was told on or about Nov. 22 that his contract was not being renewed and was told on Dec. 4 he was being reassigned to the Student Detention Center (SDC). The district has provided no reason for the action.

A lawsuit filed in Sebastian County Circuit Court Tuesday (Feb. 18) states that his reassignment was unlawful because it did not receive approval of the FSPS school board. Curry’s contract contains a provision giving Superintendent Dr. Terry Morawski authority to make a reassignment without approval from the Fort Smith School Board, noted a news release from Curry’s attorney Joey McCutchen.

“It is concerning that this contract provision has also been included in other employment contracts throughout the district. The provision is unlawful and unenforceable,” McCutchen said in the news release.

The district declined to comment on the legal action.

McCutchen is citing a state law that notes: “School district boards of directors shall have authority to assign and reassign or transfer all teachers in schools within their jurisdiction upon the recommendation of the superintendent.” The lawsuit states that having the provision in contracts is an unlawful attempt to bypass the board’s responsibility.

Curry’s contract, which is dated to be in effect from July 1, 2024, to June 30, 2025, states that the “contract may be terminated by either party pursuant to law or District policy, and the contract otherwise expires and is not subject to any automatic renewal.” The same language is the same in other contracts in the district. The contracts all include, “employee(s) acknowledges the authority of the superintendent to reassign employee to any other duties in the best interests of the district.”

The subject of Curry’s reassignment was brought up twice during public input comments during board meetings in December and January. In January, the school board announced the matter would be discussed in executive session, but once the board reconvened in open session, it did not take any action regarding any personnel matter. Fort Smith School Board member Talicia Richardson resigned at the January meeting, stating that “the grievance process was not followed,” and Curry was treated unfairly.

“Coach Curry has tried to resolve this unlawful action by Superintendent Morawski without the necessity of filing a lawsuit but the district has sidestepped substantive review at every step. Further, Superintendent Morawski or board members have never given Coach Curry even one reason for the abrupt reassignment,” McCutchen said.

During the January board meeting, Marshall Ney, the district’s attorney, said Curry had agreed to allow Morawski the authority to reassign him. He also stated that Arkansas law allows superintendents the power to make reassignments.

The lawsuit asks that the court enter a judgment stating that Curry was unlawfully reassigned as head football coach and campus athletic coordinator and reinstate him to that position for the remainder of his contract. It also asks any similar language in employment contracts throughout the district be ruled as invalid and unenforceable.