“It’s too early to tell whether it’s a good idea or not.”
Clarksdale Municipal School District Superintendent Dr. Earl Joe Nelson expressed those thoughts about Mayor Chuck Espy’s decision to have students at the high school determine his appointment for the school board.
Board member Kenneth Gooden currently holds the seat. Gooden’s five-year term expires March 1. The city will be taking applications for the position through Feb. 7.
“We’re going to handle it with the constraints of what policy says based on the law,” Nelson said. “That’s what we’re going to follow. We don’t know what this full process looks like. We’re just going to embrace the process and trust the right person will be added to our school board slot.”
When Nelson became superintendent in July 2019, he said one of the deciding factors was the school board. He discussed what he believes makes a good board member.
“The role of a superintendent and the role of the board are quite different,” Nelson said. “I look for the role of the board to adopt policy and to make sure policies are upgraded based on the law. It’s my job as a superintendent to follow those policies. There’s a state statute that helped guide them, just like there is a state statute that guides me as a superintendent. I’m looking for someone that’s going to come in, follow that and make a difference for our students.”
Nelson said he did not know of a district where students were involved in the selection process of a board member. As a result, the district will be educating students about the process.
“I think it goes back to students have to understand policy and understand law,” Nelson said. “As long as we educate students on what state policy is and what the law says, I think we’re going to be OK. Those are rules that we’re governed by and I think it’s good to make sure that our students are clear on what the law says.”
Nelson said it is too early to tell the way students will be educated based on the criteria of what Espy wants to do. Nelson and Espy have discussed the issue.
“We’ve had a conversation about it already,” Nelson said. “We’ve talked about the process being a very different process. As mayor, he wants our city to be a little bit different. He wants us to be trendsetters, as he says. He wants to blaze a trail to do things different for Clarksdale.”
