A high school superintendent in Arkansas has been given two years’ probation for his role in a bullying and harassment scandal involving members of the football team.
As reported by CBS affiliate KTHV in Little Rock, Quitman Public Schools superintendent Michael Stacks, who was high school principal and athletic director prior to this year, defended his actions before the Arkansas State Board of Education on Friday, testifying under oath that he reported the allegations once he had reasonable suspicion they were true.
On July 12, the board suspended football coach Danny Marrs for one year for being slow to report the locker room incidents, which involved physical contact of a sexual nature perpetrated by older football players upon younger team members.
On Friday, the Professional Licensure Standards Board , which is responsible for recommending sanctions, recommended a lighter punishment of only three months probation for Stacks.
Board Member Jeff Wood -- who passionately advocated for a harsher punishment for Stacks on the basis that he failed to adequately address the incidents -- outlined some of what allegedly took place.
But, some on the board debated if the punishment should be harsher — in particular, Jeff Wood, who Stacks’ lawyer claimed has improperly communicated with witnesses throughout the investigation, Carter Thweatt of KTHV reported.
Wood also reiterated in graphic detail the accusations against football team members.
“There's the almost endless, almost daily descriptions of humping,” Wood said. “We have video of one of the instances of one of the victims being held down, having his mouth held open, and the perpetrator telling another student in the room, ‘I've got his mouth open. Put your b*lls in his mouth.' ”
In addition, Wood outlined allegations of bullying. “Kids were shoved in lockers and hit with footballs,” Wood said. “They were shot with Orby and/or BB guns. Some claimed that they were whipped with a bullwhip.”
Per Thweatt's reporting, Stacks claimed that he and school administration did adequately punish players involved in the bullying, and added that in his view, punishments aren’t black and white because they depend on a student’s disabilities, individual education plan, and more.
“We have to be able to look at that and take those kind of things into consideration when we are considering discipline for kids,” Stacks said, according to KTHV.
"Wood and some other board members weren’t moved by these arguments and proposed Stacks’ punishment be upped to one year of suspension, and then two years of probation," Thweatt reported. "But that motion failed 4-3, after which the Board came to their final conclusion — two years’ probation, some mandatory training, and a $250.00 fine."
“I accepted the three-month probation,” Stacks told THV11 after the hearing. “Rolling it back to a full two years, just based on their arbitrary decision making … is very troubling to me.”
Multiple Quitman parents advocated for harsher punishment during the hearing's public comment period.
“Three out of the six boys charged with assault, battery and harassment testified that this behavior has gone on for years and that it happened to them personally,” one parent said.
“This is a culture of allowing abuse and corruption to control Quitman and the school district,” another parent added. “So if you vote against suspending him or firing him, you're not protecting these kids. You're just allowing more hurt.”
