Jackson Free Press

An emerging Jackson Public Schools board voting bloc scattered an ant's nest of controversial ideas at the last board meeting. The meeting, which ran from 6:20 p.m. until past midnight, tossed around the idea of bringing spoken prayer to the board meeting and corporal punishment to the classrooms.

"I just think prayer is in order," said JPS board member Sollie Norwood. "The council does it all the time. It invites different ministers to come in and say a prayer. Prayer has gotten us to where we are, and if we expect to move we should depend on prayer."

The state Legislature and the Jackson City Council already herald their meetings with a request for divine approval of whatever impending squabble is on the way, but the idea is a return to an older practice for the board.

"My understanding is that we used to do it, but it was discontinued when we were going to be challenged in court by the ACLU. We went to silent meditation after the challenge, and eventually, even the silent meditation was taken off the agenda," said board member H. Ann Jones.

Board Vice President Jonathan Larkin said he questioned the motion, introduced by Norwood, because of the uncertain constitutionality of prayer, because the board is a public body.

"We've got both board members and district employees who are required to be at the meetings, and not all of them are Christian. Opening the meeting with prayer may prove to be a violation of the Establishment Clause of the Constitution," said Larkin.

Nsombi Lambright, executive director of the Mississippi ACLU, said the organization is not planning outright legal action against the board if it re-instates prayer, but also would be unlikely to turn away a plaintiff looking to sue on behalf of a constitutional violation the move represented.

"We have kind of gotten away from directly challenging a local body on something like this, but if a teacher or somebody required to attend the board meeting takes offense to it, the ACLU might take that individual's case," Lambright said.

Norwood said he was ready to deal with any lawsuits, admitting at the board meeting that "he didn't care if it was legal or not."

"Prayer is not meant to violate a law. We're not about causing controversy. I just don't see any reason any non-Christians would be offended," Norwood said.

The board, leery of the consequences of Norwood's idea, threw the motion to a pack of lawyers to disseminate for the next board meeting.

The board also took no real action on a second, equally volatile motion Norwood had introduced in an earlier board meeting: re-introducing corporal punishment to the school district. The board asked JPS Superintendent Dr. Earl Watkins to form a commission to study the effectiveness of that disciplinary practice, among others, and to devise a possible policy regarding it.

The board is divided on the issue of re-introducing paddling, with Jones and Larkin generally opposed to the idea and Delmer Stamps, Norwood and new member Ivory Phillips in support.

The Mississippi Center for Justice opposes corporal punishment, saying the practice does little to encourage discipline.

"Children getting spanked tend to be the weakest with the fewest allies and the least family cohesion. They also tend to be the same children getting spanked over and over again, so it doesn't seem very effective," said Shakti Belway, an attorney with the Southern Poverty Law Center.

The board also had a problem picking a site for Jacobs Engineering, a local business designated as grant recipient of the district's $130 million bond management contract. In 2006, the district passed a $150 million bond to renovate and build new schools.

One requirement in the contract is for the district to provide 3,000 square feet of space for the company. The board could not decide on the proposal to house the company in the renovated Union Station, at the corner of Mill and Capitol streets.

Jacobs Engineering co-founder Socrates Garrett said he was so impressed with the new facilities at Union Station that the company would reimburse the district for its use.

"The contract says they have to provide the space for us, but we were willing to pay them for that place," Garrett said. "I don't see how they were going to lose in that deal."

Norwood and the new voting bloc of Board President Delmer Stamps and fledgling member Ivory Phillips, refused the Union Station proposal, however.

"We shouldn't get into the business of leasing and sub-leasing, not when we have our own property to offer," Norwood said, suggesting a building on 16 Section land near the intersection of I-55 and I-20.

Larkin said putting the company in Norwood's building, however, would cost the district between $75,000 and $100,000, whereas Union Station is ready for business.

Norwood admitted that repairs would be necessary, but felt the renovation would count as an investment.

"We're going to invest in a building that we own. If we put them in Union Station, we won't benefit from that. And I think there's a lot of other items and costs regarding Union Station, beyond paying for rent," Norwood said, but he was unable to offer examples of those hidden costs.

Previous Comments

ID

68034

Comment

“Prayer is not meant to violate a law. We’re not about causing controversy. I just don’t see any reason any non-Christians would be offended,” Norwood said. But everyone isn't Christian, Mr. Norwood. If you initiate spoken prayer, are you only going to allow Christian prayers and if so, from which perspective? Baptist? Methodist? Catholic? Mr. Norwood did point out that the state legislature and the city council (and might I add the US Congress and Senate) start each session with a prayer. He does have a point, but then again, look at all the Hell that come out of those chambers anyway. ;)

Author

golden eagle

Date

2007-09-05T08:47:42-06:00