A Service of UA Little Rock
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Former Little Rock School Superintendent Loses Doctorate & Future Pay

Dexter Suggs Little Rock Schools
Brian Chilson
/
Arkansas Times

Former school superintendent Dexter Suggs has had his Doctorate in Education revoked following allegations of plagiarism. The Little Rock School District announced it will cancel future severance package payments.

Suggs resigned in April from the Little Rock School District with a $250,000 total severance package following allegations he plagiarized his doctoral dissertation.

Suggs' severance agreement included a $46,208 payment within 10 days, and a subsequent $50,500 payment per quarter for four quarters beginning in July. The agreement stated those quarterly payments would stop, however, if Suggs lost his doctorate.

Donald Sprowl, Assistant Provost at Indiana Wesleyan University said the school revoked Suggs' degree this month.

"Dexter Suggs currently held three degrees from Indiana Wesleyan University including the Doctorate of Education in Organizational Leadership. Currently, he holds two degrees and the Doctorate of Education in organizational leadership is not one of them," said Sprowl.

Suggs completed an Ed.D. in Organizational Leadership in 2009. He still holds a master’s degree in education and another administrative specialist degree in education from Indiana Wesleyan University.

LRSD officials provided the following statement on severance pay.

The Little Rock School District (LRSD) received confirmation today that Dexter Suggs no longer holds a doctoral degree from Indiana Wesleyan University. Pursuant to the terms of the Settlement Agreement and Release, LRSD is not obligated to make any further payments to Mr. Suggs. The payment which was due on July 1, 2015 was made in a timely manner.

Suggs served as superintendent from July 2013 to April 2015.

*Correction: a previous version of this article reported the total severance amount was $200,000.

Sarah Whites-Koditschek is a former News Anchor/ Reporter for KUAR News and Arkansas Public Media.
Related Content