No public meetings set for Fort Smith Public School superintendent search

The Fort Smith Public School Board of Education began Tuesday (April 1) interviewing finalists to fill the highest office in the district. The board has decided to not have opportunities for the public to ask questions of the superintendent candidates.

The board scheduled to meet with and interview the three finalists for the superintendent of schools position – Jason Black, Marty Mahan, and Anne Martfeld – beginning Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. and continuing Wednesday (April 2) and Thursday (April 3), also at 5:30 p.m.

Although all three meetings are scheduled as public meetings, the agenda for each states the board will go into executive session after the meetings are called to order in order to interview the candidates. School Board President Dalton Person said the school board will meet April 8 to review the finalists and discuss making an offer.

Person said no public question and answer sessions are scheduled. The FSPS school board held public sessions for questions during its last nationwide search for a superintendent in 2016. That search led to the hiring of Dr. Doug Brubaker superintendent. Superintendent Dr. Terry Morawski, who is officially leaving in June, was appointed superintendent when Brubaker left at the end of 2020 to take the superintendent position of Texarkana (Texas) Independent School District. Morawski had served as the district’s deputy superintendent since 2018 before taking over the position Jan. 4, 2021.

There were also public forums to meet and question finalists during the University of Arkansas at Fort Smith’s search for a chancellor in 2019. That search culminated in hiring Dr. Terisa Riley as the university chancellor.

“While I recognize this has been done as part of some local searches previously, one size does not fit all,” Person said.

The school board commissioned through McPherson Jacobson, the search firm it hired to conduct the superintendent search, a survey open to the public as part of  the superintendent search. That survey garnered 1,228 responses from members of the public, staff, and others, Person said.

The 1,228 responses included 591 from parents with a student in the district, 436 from those with a staff member working in the district, and 88 from those with both. The top five points of concern among survey respondents were academic outcomes (33%), communication (27%), school safety (27%), staff recruitment and retention (25%), and teacher quality (24%). (Link here for a PDF report that summarizes the survey results.)

“Additionally, two of the three finalists have worked or currently work for Fort Smith Public Schools, and all three finalists work within two hours of the district. Since finalists were named nearly two weeks ago, I’ve had quite a few members of the public reach out and offer feedback on all of them,” Person said. “Ultimately, the board of education is responsible for selecting the next superintendent and has to take ownership of this, with welcome feedback from the community.”

Mahan, the first of the three to be interviewed, is the deputy superintendent of FSPS, a position he has held since December 2020. Martfield, who will be interviewed Wednesday, is a Fort Smith native and graduate of Southside High School. She is one of two assistant superintendents at Pea Ridge Public Schools. Black’s interview is set for Thursday. He is the deputy superintendent for Conway Public Schools, a position he has held for just over three years.