By John Lyon
Arkansas News Bureau
LITTLE ROCK — A state senator who is also a school superintendent has been accused of violating the state’s code of ethics for educators.
The ethics subcommittee of the state Professional Licensure Standards Board has recommended that Sen. Jack Crumbly, D-Widener, receive a written warning for a violation of the code, according to education officials. The state Board of Education is scheduled to consider the recommendation at its regular monthly meeting July 13.
Crumbly, who is superintendent of the Earle School District, told the Arkansas News Bureau on Monday the alleged violation concerned a letter he wrote to the Earle City Council.
Crumbly said the council was planning to hold a hearing on a dispute involving a teacher and a principal, and he wrote to the council asking it to postpone the hearing because the principal was unable to attend on the date scheduled.
“The board thought in their wisdom that maybe I shouldn’t have written a letter,” Crumbly said. “They thought it might be I was trying to influence the council and the mayor.”
Crumbly said he never intended to abuse his authority, but he has written to the standards board and acknowledged that “in hindsight maybe I shouldn’t have written a letter” to the city council.
Crumbly is no stranger to controversy. He won his legislative seat in a 2006 runoff election that prompted a Senate panel to investigate complaints of voter fraud and irregularities. The full Senate voted in June 2008 to let Crumbly retain his seat.
