The Arkansas Supreme Court says that the Little Rock School Board's decision to fire its superintendent and pay him $635,000 did not violate the state's constitution.

Justices on Thursday upheld a lower court's ruling supporting the board's decision last year to fire Roy Brooks as superintendent and agree to the buyout. Brooks, who was not a party to the lawsuit, was fired amid fights among board members over his tenure as superintendent of the state's largest school district.

The four black members of the school board voted to fire Brooks, who is also black. Its white members voted to keep him.

A group of parents in the district had challenged the ruling, saying that it violated the state constitution, which says that public school funds should only be used for schools.

(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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