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DOLLARWAY NAMES NEW SUPERINTENDENT

By Amy Riggin/OF THE COMMERCIAL STAFF
Tuesday, May 19, 2009 10:22 AM CDT

In a special called meeting Monday, the Dollarway School Board named Dr. Arthur Tucker as its new superintendent for the 2009-2010 school year.

Tucker will replace Thomas Gathen, who has resigned to become superintendent of the McGehee School District.

“We had many good applicants and we had several good interviews,” Board President Gene Stewart said evening.

Tucker was given a three year contract at $100,000 a year.

Tucker has served as assistant superintendent of the Texarkana Arkansas School District since July 2004 and was chosen from a field of 21 applicants, six of whom were interviewed by the board last week.

“I am excited and I count it as a blessing to be selected to serve this district,” Tucker said after the meeting.

Board members met in executive session for about half an hour. After the session, all board members present voted to hire Tucker. One member, George Stepps, was absent.

“This is a crucial time for the Dollarway School District,” Stewart said. “We certainly feel that we have a candidate who does possess leadership ... and who will take this district and meet tough challenges and promote the education for the students in the Dollarway School District.”

Tucker said he has been in education for 27 years, starting as a fourth-grade teacher.

He has served as principal at Saratoga Elementary School, Nashville Elementary School, Ridgeroad Middle School and the Alternative Education Center, both in North Little Rock, and Warren High School. He also has been an adjunct professor at the University of Arkansas at Monticello and Henderson State University.

Gathen said the district is “fortunate to have him” and that the board made “an excellent decision” in choosing Tucker.

Tucker said his “primary focus” will be to get four of five schools in the district out of school improvement. In order to do that, he said he will need help in the form of a partnership with the community.

“That’s what the purpose of school is, for students to learn, and we’ll continue to focus on student learning,” he said. “And part of that is making sure that teachers have the opportunity to teach.”

Tucker said that means offering them the best resources and opportunities for professional development.

“I know that, regardless of who the superintendent is, the rubber meets the road with the teachers in the classroom,” he said.

How the district spends stimulus money, as well as how it uses its existing resources, will be an important factor for the future as well, Tucker said.

The positive attributes that he has seen in the district so far, he said, is the “attitude of the personnel.”

“I went to every campus today and met people,” Tucker said. “I see their willingness to work — their desire to continue to get better — so that’s always a positive.”

As district employees get to know him, Tucker said he believes they’ll see that he is a hard worker.

“I’m dedicated to education and I’m dedicated to this district,” he said.

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