Latest news with #ArkansasPBS
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Arkansas PBS names Sajni Kumpuris interim executive director
ARKANSAS (KNWA/KFTA) — The Arkansas Educational Television Commission has named Sajni Kumpuris as the interim executive director of Arkansas PBS, effective Monday, May 26. Kumpuris currently serves as the organization's education director and production director. She will assume the interim leadership role following the departure of Courtney Pledger, who has held the position of executive director and CEO since 2017. 'I am honored to step into the role of interim director at Arkansas PBS,' Kumpuris said in an Arkansas PBS Facebook post. 'This organization has long been a vital resource for our communities, and I'm committed to continuing our mission of providing high-quality educational content and programming that reflects the values and needs of all Arkansans. I look forward to working with our incredible team as we build on our legacy of service and innovation.' University of Arkansas to create statewide 'crisis hub' with $10 million award from DHS She has produced educational programs including 'Rise and Shine,' 'Arkansas AMI,' and 'Mystery League,' and the documentary '7 Days – The Opioid Crisis.' She has received three regional Emmy Awards and multiple Public Media Awards under Arkansas PBS, according to Talk Business & Politics. Kumpuris serves on the PBS KIDS Leadership Council and the school board of The Excel Center. She holds a master's degree in applied communication and has experience in broadcast production and educational media. Kumpuris also leads ArkansasIDEAS, an online professional development platform serving over 96,000 educators in Arkansas with more than 600 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Commissioners select interim Arkansas PBS director
The Arkansas PBS Commission meets for its quarterly meeting on March 6, 2025 in Conway. (Screenshot from livestream) The Arkansas PBS Commission named Sajni Kumpuris as the public television network's interim director during a special meeting Tuesday. Kumpuris, who currently serves as Arkansas PBS' education director and production director, will assume her new role on May 26. She replaces Courtney Pledger. The public media network announced in April that Pledger would leave her position in May. In a statement issued Tuesday evening, Kumpuris said she was 'honored' to step into the new role. 'This organization has long been a vital resource for our communities, and I'm committed to continuing our mission of providing high-quality educational content and programming that reflects the values and needs of all Arkansans,' she said. 'I look forward to working with our incredible team as we build on our legacy of service and innovation.' The majority of the eight-member board voted in favor of Kumpuris after meeting in executive section for nearly an hour. The voice vote included one audible dissent. Kumpuris will serve in an interim capacity while a national search for a permanent executive director is organized and conducted, Commission Chairman West Doss said during the virtual meeting. 'We've had a very good meeting of the commissioners and took the first step towards finding us a new executive director of Arkansas PBS,' Doss said. 'We had three excellent candidates with excellent credentials, all internal, and we are all blessed to have them at Arkansas PBS.' The other two internal candidates considered were Associate Executive Director and Chief Financial Officer Jason Kunau and Operations Director DeWayne Wilbur. All three candidates will be considered for the permanent position, Doss said. The permanent director will succeed Pledger, who joined Arkansas PBS in 2017 and also serves as vice chair of PBS' 27-member national board of directors. 'It has been my great honor to lead Arkansas PBS through a transformative time that points to the limitless potential of our statewide public media network,' Pledger said in a statement issued last month. Under Pledger's leadership, Arkansas PBS expanded its K-12 educational programming, launching 'Arkansas AMI' when schools closed during the pandemic. She also 'significantly increased the reach and impact' of ArkansasIDEAS, the state's most-used online professional development platform for teachers, according to an April press release. The network also started broadcasting state high school sports championships. During her tenure at Arkansas PBS, Pledger also faced multiple conflicts with the state Legislature, including in 2023 when the organization's regularly scheduled 2022 audit indicated that administrators might have sidestepped state laws related to contract bidding. Arkansas PBS announces executive director's departure next month Pledger told lawmakers the agency had no intention to break or circumvent state law and had learned from its 'mistakes and errors.' Arkansas PBS' spending authority has repeatedly faced resistance in the Arkansas House. Appropriations need approval from three-fourths of lawmakers, and PBS' fiscal year 2026 appropriation required five attempts to get 76 House members' support. Earlier this year, Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan of Jonesboro filed a bill to abolish the Arkansas Educational Television Commission, which oversees Arkansas PBS' programs and finances, and transfer its powers and authorities to the state education department. After the bill to abolish the commission passed the Senate in February, Doss and Sullivan said they reached an agreement that led Sullivan to leave the commission alone. Sullivan, the legislature's most vocal critic of Arkansas PBS, unsuccessfully tried to reduce the public television station's spending authority during the 2022 and 2024 fiscal sessions. The governor appointed Sullivan's wife, Maria Sullivan, to the commission last year. Doss previously said that Maria Sullivan will lead an Arkansas PBS task force aimed at better serving homeschoolers, which is a high priority for her husband. The commission will next meet on June 5. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
18-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Arkansas PBS announces executive director's departure next month
Arkansas PBS Executive Director and CEO Courtney Pledger (right) and Chief Financial Officer Jason Kunau (center) answer questions from a Senate committee about the network's finances on Thursday, February 13, 2025. At left is Maria Sullivan, a member of the Arkansas Educational Television Commission and wife of Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Jonesboro, who is sponsoring legislation to abolish the commission. (Mary Hennigan/Arkansas Advocate) Arkansas PBS CEO and Executive Director Courtney Pledger, whose eight-year tenure included multiple conflicts with the state Legislature, will step down in May, the agency announced Thursday in a news release. Pledger took over the state's educational public television network in 2017. She 'leaves behind a legacy of transformative leadership and innovative growth across content, education, and community engagement,' the PBS news release states. In a statement, Pledger said she appreciated 'building a phenomenal team eager to take on new challenges and collaborating with some of the very best independent creators and community partners in Arkansas.' 'It has been my great honor to lead Arkansas PBS through a transformative time that points to the limitless potential of our statewide public media network,' said Pledger, who is also the vice chair of PBS' 27-member national board of directors. The 'transformative time' included the COVID-19 pandemic, during which Arkansas PBS broadened its resources for K-12 students while schools were closed. The agency also started providing live high school sports coverage and online archives of state government meetings during Pledger's tenure, according to the news release. 'Her tenure marked a deepening of Arkansas PBS's community relevance, with an expanded multi-platform presence, robust social media engagement, and popular in-person events,' the news release states. West Doss, chairman of the Arkansas Educational Television Commission, said in an interview that Pledger decided months ago to leave the agency. He said Pledger has been 'a big part of some incredible growth and new initiatives that we've done' and is 'well-respected by our commission.' The commission will meet Monday morning to discuss Pledger's departure, and applications to succeed her will be open soon, Doss said. In the past few years, Arkansas PBS has faced legislative obstacles to its ability to spend its money. Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Jonesboro, has been the Legislature's most vocal critic of Arkansas PBS, and he unsuccessfully tried to reduce Arkansas PBS' spending authority in the 2022 and 2024 fiscal sessions. Arkansas PBS' funds include approximately $5.8 million from state general revenue, $2.5 million from the federal Corporation for Public Broadcasting and $1.7 million in private donations, agency Chief Financial Officer Jason Kunau said in February. Arkansas PBS' spending authority has repeatedly faced resistance in the Arkansas House. Appropriations need approval from three-fourths of lawmakers, and PBS' fiscal year 2026 appropriation required five attempts to get 76 House members' support. Earlier this year, Pledger urged lawmakers not to abolish the Arkansas Educational Television Commission, which oversees Arkansas PBS' programs and finances. A proposed law from Sullivan would have moved the commission's powers and authorities to the state Department of Education; Arkansas PBS is already under the department's umbrella but operates independently. The agency would have stood to lose funding via grants and donations if it no longer had an independent board, Pledger told a Senate committee. Sullivan disputed the claim that the agency could have lost funding for its services, which include the state's emergency alert system. However, the Department of Education would have faced an 'expensive and time-consuming' effort to obtain Arkansas PBS' Federal Communications Commission license if the agency's governance changed, according to a Washington, D.C. law firm that specializes in telecommunications law. Lawmakers OK fresh audit into Arkansas PBS' purchases, procedures as far back as July 2021 The agency came under legislative scrutiny in 2023 when its regularly scheduled 2022 audit indicated that administrators might have sidestepped state laws related to contract bidding. Purchases of more than $20,000 would have triggered a bidding process, and the network made several purchases just below that threshold from the same company, according to the 2022 audit. A specially requested audit of the network's expenditures, purchasing procedures and 'internal controls' from July 1, 2021 to Dec. 30, 2023, concluded last year, with auditors referring the findings to a prosecuting attorney. Pledger told lawmakers the agency had no intention to break or circumvent state law and had learned from its 'mistakes and errors.' While both audits remained unresolved, a legislative subcommittee tabled a potential merit pay raise for Pledger at Sullivan's urging in August 2023 and tabled an appropriation request from the agency later that year because Pledger had missed some scheduled appearances before committees. Lawmakers said her absence was disrespectful; the network's then-chief financial officer said Pledger missed a meeting due to illness. After the proposal to abolish the PBS commission passed the Senate in February, Doss and Sullivan said they reached an agreement that led Sullivan to leave the commission alone. The panel convenes four times a year and will next meet in June. Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders appointed Sullivan's wife, Maria Sullivan, to the Arkansas Educational Television Commission last year. Doss said Maria Sullivan is set to lead an Arkansas PBS task force aimed at better serving homeschoolers, which is a high priority for her husband. Discussion with bill sponsor 'saved' Arkansas PBS governing board from dissolution, chairman says
Yahoo
18-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Arkansas PBS executive director leaving position in May
CONWAY, Ark. – The executive director and CEO of Arkansas PBS will be departing next month, officials announced. Arkansas PBS announced Thursday that Executive Director and CEO Courtney Pledger will leave her position in May. She joined Arkansas PBS in 2017. 'I have had more than eight extraordinary years at Arkansas PBS, building a phenomenal team eager to take on new challenges and collaborating with some of the very best independent creators and community partners in Arkansas,' Pledger said in a statement. 'It has been my great honor to lead Arkansas PBS through a transformative time that points to the limitless potential of our statewide public media network.' Bill putting Arkansas library board and AETN under Department of Education passes in committee Arkansas PBS Commission Chair West Doss described Pledger as 'the catalyst of our success.' 'Her leadership has elevated Arkansas PBS to unprecedented heights, with 34 of the network's 47 Mid-America Regional Emmys being awarded during her tenure, a number of Public Media Awards from the National Educational Telecommunications Association and several original programs now broadcast nationwide by PBS,' Doss said. 'She will be greatly missed.' Before joining the public media network, Pledger worked in international film and television, holding leadership roles with multiple organizations like Illumination Entertainment and IndieProd Company, as well as working as a consultant for U.K.-based Aardman Animations. According to the release, the Arkansas PBS Commission is set to meet 'as expeditiously as possible' to find a replacement for Pledger. Congressional Republicans target PBS, NPR funding in contentious hearing You can read more about Pledger's time with Arkansas PBS on Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
07-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Discussion with bill sponsor ‘saved' Arkansas PBS governing board from dissolution, chairman says
West Doss, chairman of the Arkansas Educational Television Commission, addresses the commission during its quarterly meeting on Thursday, March 6, 2025. (Screenshot via livestream) A proposal to eliminate the governing board that oversees educational public television programs in Arkansas is not likely to advance further in the Legislature, the board chairman said Thursday. The Arkansas Educational Television Commission oversees Arkansas PBS programs and finances and acts independently of the Arkansas Department of Education despite operating under its umbrella. Senate Bill 184, which passed the Senate in February, would abolish the commission and transfer its powers and authorities to the education department. At the commission's quarterly meeting Thursday, Chairman West Doss said he came to 'an understanding' with SB 184's sponsor, Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan of Jonesboro, earlier that morning. 'I'm passionate about education, I'm passionate about what this commission has done, and I will fight for it every minute of the day, so that's what we were doing,' Doss said. 'Maybe we didn't have all the I's dotted and the T's crossed, but we have saved the commission now. We've saved the work that we are doing.' Sullivan has been a vocal critic of Arkansas PBS, particularly since its regularly scheduled 2022 audit indicated that administrators might have sidestepped state laws related to contract bidding, and a specially requested audit that concluded last year led auditors to forward the findings to a prosecuting attorney. Proposal to eliminate Arkansas State Library and PBS governing boards passes Senate Arkansas PBS CEO Courtney Pledger told lawmakers in September that the agency had learned from its 'mistakes and errors,' but Sullivan told the Senate the commission should have taken action in response to the audit findings. Twenty-three Republican senators voted to approve SB 184 on Feb. 17, but the House Committee on State Agencies and Governmental Affairs has yet to take up the bill for discussion. Committee chairman Rep. Jimmy Gazaway, R-Paragould, told the Advocate Wednesday that Sullivan anticipated an amendment to the bill and had requested it not to be heard yet. Bills are considered deferred in a committee if they are not heard for three meetings in a row, and sponsors must give two days' notice to remove a bill from the deferred list. Arkansas PBS could lose both federal and private funding, limiting its ability to provide public programming, if its governance is no longer independent of the state's executive branch, Pledger and other opponents of SB 184 have said. The dissolution of the commission would also cause 'far-reaching legal and practical problems' for Arkansas PBS and the state itself, according to a Feb. 27 letter to the agency from a Washington, D.C. law firm that specializes in telecommunications law. The Advocate received the letter via the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act. 'If the Arkansas Secretary of Education (or any other elected official or individual appointed to serve at the pleasure of an elected official) has the power directly to control the broadcast stations, there would be little question that the Secretary was directly involved in the state's political and administrative process,' wrote Margaret Miller of Gray Miller Persh. 'He would in fact be a political officer of the state.' AETC State Reorganization Letter Miller also said the Federal Communications Commission might require every new Arkansas education secretary in the future to go through 'the whole expensive and time-consuming transfer process' of obtaining Arkansas PBS' FCC license. The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette first reported on the letter Feb. 28. In response to questions Thursday from commissioner Gary Newton, Doss said he directed Pledger to seek the expert legal opinion on short notice because the commission and the agency were 'facing extinction.' 'If we put [Arkansas PBS] under a political entity, such as the head of the Department of Education, appointed by the governor… they are political animals, and Arkansas PBS becomes a propaganda arm for whoever is in power, whether it's the Republicans or it's the Democrats or it's the Green Party or whoever, and that's the reason we're an independent commission,' Doss said. Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders appointed Sullivan's wife, Maria Sullivan, and Newton to the Arkansas Educational Television Commission last year. Newton said he disapproved of Doss apparently speaking for the whole commission in his discussion with Sullivan about SB 184. He also said he was 'disappointed' to learn about the letter from a news outlet instead of from Arkansas PBS leadership. 'For that subject to not be on the agenda, it feels like it's being kept from the very commissioners whose role on this commission is at stake with the passage of SB 184,' Newton said. Doss continued to defend his and Pledger's request for the opinion and said his discussion with Sullivan 'avoided a potential tragedy.' 'As far as I'm concerned, and [as far as] I think Sen. Sullivan's concerned, it's over right now,' said Doss, who could not be reached for further comment Thursday after the meeting. Sullivan refused to answer questions from the Advocate about his conversation with Doss. He said the Advocate 'rarely prints anything as accurately' as he would prefer. SB 184 would also abolish the Arkansas State Library Board, which oversees public libraries and disburses state funds to them on a quarterly basis. Sullivan has been critical of the State Library Board and its relationship with the American Library Association, a nonprofit trade organization that advocates for public libraries and helps them secure grant funding. The commission later adopted a motion by Newton directing Pledger and her staff to work with the education department to make PBS' 'rich library' of professional development videos available to homeschoolers and private school teachers as well as public and charter school educators. Commissioners also adopted several motions from Newton directing PBS executives and staff to work with the education department to explore the potential development of broadcast quality videos highlighting high-wage Arkansas industries and job availabilities and videos based on the 'science of reading' to help young learners and those struggling with literacy. Another Newton motion directed PBS staff to develop an evaluation tool for assessing whether the network's programming meets AETN's mission as described in law, whether it or something comparable is available on the commercial market, 'how educational is it,' and 'how Arkansas is it.' Commissioners also approved it. 'The overall goal [of the flurry of motions] is to try to demonstrate relevance … and that we as a commission are doing our jobs,' Newton said. Arkansas Advocate Editor Sonny Albarado contributed to this story. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
