The Batesville School Board has voted to accept the recommendation to terminate the employment contract of Superintendent Dr. Ginni McDonald.
The action came at an over six-hour hearing Thursday, part of a due process timeline set in motion in May, when the board voted to recommend terminating McDonald’s contract. Under that process, McDonald was entitled to an appeal hearing before the board could take final action. Addressing the board were Mary Carole Young, an attorney with RMP Law, a firm that conducted an internal review for the Batesville School District, as well as McDonald’s attorney, Jodi Cole. Jay Beckett, an attorney representing the Batesville School District, also spoke at the hearing. Multiple witnesses, including BSD Interim Superintendent David Campbell, Batesville Preschool Director Mindy Shaw, and other preschool and district personnel, spoke at the hearing, which ended around 12:40 a.m.
McDonald had been on administrative leave since Feb. 25, when the board placed her on leave amid an investigation into allegations of abuse at a district preschool. At the time, a northwest Arkansas law firm (RMP) was brought in to conduct an internal review assessing potential civil and criminal liability. Board President Scott Fredericks said the outside review was intended to ensure an objective process, adding that student safety remained the district’s highest priority.
The underlying investigation led to criminal charges in June against a former Batesville Preschool teacher and two administrators. Donna H. Januchowski, 68, was charged with three counts of first-degree assault and three counts of endangering the welfare of a minor, both class A misdemeanors, after surveillance footage allegedly showed her physically assaulting three children, ages four and five, in her classroom on Jan. 23. According to a probable cause affidavit, the footage shows Januchowski grabbing the children by their shirts, forcing one child’s face down with her leg across his neck, and holding her hand over another child’s mouth while shaking him.
Two administrators, Lorrie Mae McClure, 52, and Kristi Elizabeth Cox, 56, were also charged with three counts of failure to notify as a mandated reporter in the first degree, also a class A misdemeanor. The affidavit states both women reviewed the classroom footage the day of the incident and had Januchowski sign an internal documentation form outlining concerns about her conduct, but neither reported the incident to the state child abuse hotline as required under Arkansas law. The investigation was ultimately triggered Feb. 4 when a state licensing investigator who had reviewed the footage independently called the hotline.
Dr. Ginni McDonald (File photo)
McDonald had served as superintendent since 2025, when she was hired from the Russellville School District.
Assistant Superintendent David Campbell has served as interim superintendent since late February and is expected to continue overseeing district operations.
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