Clarksdale Municipal School District Superintendent Joe Nelson was escorted from school grounds Monday following a special called meeting only attended by three school board trustees on Thursday of last week.
Thursday’s meeting saw trustee Sandy Stillions say the meeting was illegal and leave the board room before the meeting started. Trustee Joan Morris was not at Thursday’s meeting and it was made public at Monday Clarksdale’s Board of Mayor and Commissioners meeting at City Hall that she had resigned.
A motion to replace Morris with former trustee Delores Harris by Ward 2 Commissioner Ken Murphy and seconded by Ward 1 Commissioner Bo Plunk failed on an unprecedented 3-2 vote when the Ward 3 Commissioner Willie Turner, Ward 4 Commissioner Ed Seals and Mayor Chuck Espy nixed Harris’ appointment.
Thursday’s special called meeting of the school board started with a review of proposed class and school changes that had been proposed in February. Those changes, which were based on district building repair needs and declining student population numbers, were once again voted down by trustees Zedrick Clayton, LaFiesta Roland and Manika Kemp.
The board also had district financial statements explained to them again by central office staff.
On a motion by Kemp, a second by Roland and supported by Clayton the board entered executive session for about 20 minutes to review the superintendent’s contract.
School board attorney Carlos Palmer was also not at Thursday’s meeting.
Trustees re-opened the doors to the public at 6:46 p.m. and said they had taken a vote but did not indicate what the action was about or how trustees voted.
“It was a contractual matter that cannot be discussed,” said Clayton.
Clayton was repeatedly asked by the Clarksdale Press Register if a vote was taken by the board.
Clayton said action was taken and the “decision will be made public, but not at this time.”
Nelson was removed from office by school security officers sometime before 2 p.m. Monday.
Attempts to contact Nelson by the Clarksdale Press Register were not successful.
The next regular meeting of the CMSD Board of Trustees is scheduled for Thursday, May 26 as posted in an Email.
City Board Meeting
Monday’s Clarksdale city board meeting saw Murphey and Plunk voice their displeasure after Seals and Turner bucked Murphey’s appointment.
“It has been a longtime precedent for each board member to pick their (school) board member,” said Plunk. “There have been appointments I have not agreed with, but I went along with them because that was the agreement.”
Mayor Espy voiced his desire to see term limits on board appointments and Plunk said term limits only apply to the Carnegie Library board and Delta Blues Museum board.
Murphey was more vocal.
“For too long we have sat around and watched that school district used as a jobs program,” said Murphey. “We have forgotten what school is for. It’s for the welfare of students. Children should come first.
“We have a board that doesn’t care about the community,” Murphey added. “Until we build a better school district – and this one is an F rated district – we will never attract new industry or attract new people with children to this community.
“People have got to step up and hold the people they elected accountable for their actions,” said Murphey.
Turner, Seals and Espy were silent.
Turner later said he “doesn’t do politics,” and Murphey laughed.
“For the record I don’t play politics about our children’s future,” said Turner. “These are tough issues and real issues I will not fold up.”
Seals said he voted against Harris’ appointment because she had mistreated a former principal, federal program director and an elementary school administrator. He did not give details.
The Clarksdale Municipal School District named new board officers in April after Kemp was named a trustee in a surprise move in March.
Clayton was elected Board President, Roland was named to the newly created post of Vice President and Kemp was named Secretary.
The move saw Morris bumped from her acting board president post after previous board president Delores Harris was replaced by Clarksdale Ward 3 Commissioner Willie Turner with Kemp. H. Clay “Sandy” Stillions is the board’s fifth member.
Clarksdale’s school board had previously had only a President and Vice President on the five-member board of trustees with the Vice-President moving up to the President’s post each year.
Clarksdale trustees are appointed by the Clarksdale Board of Mayor and Commissioners for staggered four-year terms. Kemp who once worked for the school district was named the district’s newest trustee in March at the city’s regular board meeting. The appointment was not on the city’s vetting meeting agenda where all issues are allegedly discussed and the community made aware of issues to be brought before the board.
Board members and the city leader who appoints them are:
POST 1: Trustee Sandy Stillions appointed by Ward 1 Commissioner Bo Plunk.
POST 2: Trustee Joan Morris appointed by Ward 2 Commissioner Ken Murphey.
POST 3: Trustee Manika Kemp appointed by Ward 3 Commissioner Willie Turner.
POST 4: Trustee LaFiesta Roland appointed by Ward 4 Commissioner Ed Seals.
POST 5: Trustee Cedric Clayton appointed by Mayor Chuck Espy.
School board members are paid $2,400 a year and are paid about $200 monthly or $67 per meeting. They also receive travel and expenses.
General eligibility requirements are rather simple:
• Board members must be bona fide residents and qualified electors of the school district.
• Board members must have a high school diploma or its equivalent.
• Board members are required to complete a basic course of training (12 hours) for new board members conducted by MSBA.
• Board members are required to complete six hours of continuing education conducted or approved by MSBA each year.
Specific duties of a school board member as defined by state law are to set school policy, approve and monitor a yearly budget, hire a superintendent, be the board of last resort for student and teacher discipline.
School board trustee do not: Implement policy; Evaluate staff, teachers, or any employee except the superintendent; direct activities of any employee except the superintendent.
School board trustees do: Set salaries for employees; approve major purchases; adopt the school calendar; ensure the district complies with all state and federal laws and regulations; the building and closing of schools; approve personnel actions based on the superintendent’s recommendation.
State law also says no school board trustee shall vote on items dealing with the pay of any school employee who is related to a school board trustee or has a family member who does business with the district.
It has been pointed out that Kemp has a brother employed by the district and Roland also has a family member employed by the district. While the law is vague on exactly how this problem is to be addressed, boards typically see a trustee excuse themselves from the room when fees, pay or items dealing directly with the family member are brought before the board.
Person found to violate this point can be fined up to $10,000 and they can be removed from office. In certain circumstances votes made by those officials can be deemed illegal and new board action required and reflected on board minutes.
Nelson has served as superintendent of the CMSD since July 3, 2019, when the district's trustees approved his hiring by a unanimous vote. Previously, Nelson served as a longtime school principal at a high-performing school in the Pass Christian school system. A professional educator with a degree in administration, Nelson has no family in the district.
Both Coahoma County School District and Clarksdale Municipal School District are rated F districts by the state.
Districts that receive F ratings two or more years in a row face possible take-over by the state. COVID stopped the state’s accountability rating last year. District grades are set to be released this summer.
Districts that are taken over by the state see both the superintendent and school board dismissed and a conservator appointed who has broad-ranging powers to control finances, hire and fire all personnel and direct the school district to address student needs without any recourse by the community.
Holmes County was taken over by the state in August with inappropriate standards and violation of state and federal law cited as the reason.
The state has placed a school district in a conservatorship 20 times since 1997 with Holmes County the 21st. Current Districts of Transformation, as they are referred to, include Tunica and Noxubee County school districts.
Allegations most often cited in a takeover include a dysfunctional school board and/or administration, improper spending, inaccurate record keeping, student safety issues and unlicensed teachers in the classroom.
