After eight years at the helm of the Pea Ridge School District, superintendent Rick Neal is stepping down, passing the baton to assistant superintenent Keith Martin, named to replace him.
Neal announced his resignation in January effective June 30, but with two weeks of vacation, attending the regular School Board meeting Monday, June 8, will be his last official duty.
Neal, hired as high school principal in 2006, has been in education for 36 years.
"My great passion was to teach and educate kids -- mold their lives," he said. "That was my big piece."
And, board president Jeff Neil would concur, saying that all of Neal's decisions have been based on his number one priority of promoting the growth and education of the children.
"All you have to do is look at where the district was to see how far we have come and how desirable our district is for folks to live in and have our kids go to school in," Neil said. "That is because of his leadership! I think the greater portion of the change is to his leadership -- from facilities, to courses offered, to the growth of the district as a whole."
Board member Jenny Wood, who has been on the board for 14 years and previously served as president, said: "Rick has been instrumental on leading not just the high school but the whole district with his time here in Pea Ridge. He has always put students first. Wishing him the best on his next adventure."
"I had the opportunity to work through all walks of district leadership," Neal recalled, "every phase from elementary education to student services to superintendency. I've been blessed to have that opportunity."
"I've lived through that," he said, recalling the early years in Siloam Springs when he "coached everything" with basketball, football and track among his responsibilities.
He said he played ball in college and had great relationships with coaches who inspired him.
And, working through those roles gave him understanding of the responsibilities inherent in them.
"When you become a principal, an assistant or a leader in a district, you impact adults. There is a progressionary pattern. I've had the opportunity to move through every part of school business -- transportation director, athletic director, middle school principal, elementary assistant principal, high school principal and superintendent. I've been through the system and touched every aspect of it.
"I think the more you are exposed to each one of those areas' needs, and understand the importance, the more you see how the pieces fit," he said. When Neal took over the helm at Pea Ridge, the food service budget was in the red, but now consistently operates in the black.
"We got food services, bus service, technology flowing," he said. "Some of the things I recognized immediately from my experiences was how to make it flow nicely to make a successful school."
Neal said: "I felt it was important to hold people accountable and put the best teachers in front of our students that we could hire and employ. That was my mentality -- to bring the best people into Pea Ridge."
Neal will not be idle as his success in Pea Ridge caught the eye of people on the state Chamber of Commerce where he will be working to connect and link businesses to education.
"I'll be working with schools and school superintendents and business leaders," he said, "traveling throughout the state while based in Pea Ridge."
"The one thing I'm most proud of is our community engagement -- it's second to none. Our Bright Futures is a one-stop sop for all our organizations. Each component has been able to utilize that and we've created a wonderful community system and touched the lives of a lot of kids and families," he said. Neal brought the first Bright Futures to Pea Ridge during his tenure.
"I did it to impact the kids," he said. "Having the resources to meet the needs of teachers, parents, students -- those things are the biggest takeaways."
"The successes we've had -- successes in college and career readiness, in athletics, in band, in AP programs -- are because we've hired really, really good people. We've put a lot of emphasis on bringing good people in here."
Saying it was the right time to leave, Neal noted the new high school will be completed for the coming year, the district will be reconfigured.
"Leaving right now as the perfect time. The leadership is in tact. It's in a perfectly good place," he said.
"The biggest part of some of the pieces is that it made us relevant to the region, to our parents, to our community. When people recognize how important our school is, that's what has made those changes along the way. To people in our region and the rest of the state, Pea Ridge is very relevant to the community and to career readiness -- progressive education."
"Of course, I'm biased. I feel like, just for example, this COVIC-19 event has really exposed a lot of districts for not being able to move in a virtual platform. I really believe our district has been progressive and technology has shaped who we are. That's the big separation for our district and others. I've felt like we were better prepared with schoology, see saw platforms, all the pieces we had in place, that made this journey a little bit easier to ride," he said.
Editorial on 06/03/2020