Jackson Free Press

The City Council is set to vote tomorrow on an expansion of the Jackson Public Schools Board of Trustees from five to seven members. Proponents of the move argue that it will make the school board more accurately represent the city, with one member corresponding to each of the city's seven wards.

Mayor Harvey Johnson appoints members to the school board, although the council must approve his picks. Longstanding but unofficial practice holds that the mayor takes suggestions for appointments from individual council members on a rotating basis, so that at any one time, five of the city's seven wards have unofficial representation on the board.

The Council's vote comes after a new law, passed this year by the Mississippi Legislature, took effect July 1. House Bill 1153 was part of the city's legislative wish list and passed both the House of Representatives and Senate unanimously. The bill gave special permission to Jackson to expand its school board, making JPS the only district in the state with a seven-member board.

While a bigger board would make for more even geographic representation at board meetings, it could also introduce a more direct sense of political representation into the board's policy-making. Susan Womack, executive director of Jackson Parents for Public Schools, expressed concern that the seven-member system may result in board members acting purely in the interests of a single ward.

"In the past ... for the most part, the five-member board took (its) job of representing the entire school district very seriously," Womack said. "In other words, they weren't concerned about only the schools in their particular ward. I would hope that we don't turn into that."

Womack compared the dangers of an increasingly politicized board to the problems with electing school board members. Politicized organizations tend to attract different people than more politically insulated appointed boards, she argued.

"If somebody has to go through an election, what we see in a lot of cities is that it's hard to find people to run," Womack said. "People are willing to step up to the plate and make the commitment if the mayor asks them, but if they had to raise money and actually run on a ticket, they might not."

A larger board does not necessarily mean a more factionalized one, though. Former school board member Jonathan Larkin said that five board members could align themselves with distinct parts of the city just as easily as seven members.

"I think in certain instances, for certain board members in the past five years, it has been very territorial," Larkin told the Jackson Free Press in an interview last month. "Their focus was specifically on the areas that they lived in or that the people in their consensus group lived in."

"As long as they are responsible to the city in general, I think you won't see a lot of the political factionalism that happens when you have elected members from specific territories," Larkin added.

Former board member Sollie Norwood, who served alongside Larkin from 2006 to April 2010, said that community members would occasionally accuse the board of slighting a particular area of the city. The board's actions rarely merited the charge, he said, but adding two members would help eliminate any suspicions that it played geographical favorites.

"I don't think that the board ever fell into a mode that would support that (accusation), but I think that it will remove any doubts there," Norwood said.

A bigger board would be helpful if it helps the district's leadership better reflect and represent the district's community, former JPS Superintendent Earl Watkins said. Having a member from each ward does not guarantee that board members will actually be any more connected to the needs of their respective wards, though, he said.

"The question for me is: What is the model that needs to be put in place to make sure that those board members are really getting involved in the community?" Watkins said.

Watkins added that while he did not recall having problems with a politically factional board, politics is never wholly absent from the school board.

"I think that anytime you have issues related to leadership of the school district in relationship to that of the city council as well as the mayor, you'll have some politics involved," Watkins said. "I can't say that it would make it more political or less political."

JPS spokeswoman Peggy Hampton said that district officials were unavailable for comment.

Previous Comments

ID

158575

Comment

Why is the community listening to comments made by Earl Watkins or that anyone has the need to know what he thinks? Haven't we paid enough for his comments and input during his years here as Superintendent? A seven member board seems appropriate for the size of the school district. It would be nice to hear from Jonh Q. Public on this issue. It would also be helpful to hear from school administrators.

Author

justjess

Date

2010-07-12T13:36:45-06:00

ID

158576

Comment

whether there are 5 or 7 members, first and foremost we need highly qualified, informed and committed people on the board. we also need a board that loosens up the reigns a little bit and doesn't micro-manage the district office as much as it does. i would also suggest that one board slot should be reserved for a PTA representative and another slot, perhaps non-voting, should be reserved for a student representative. that student could be the student council president from one of the high schools who is elected by all of the student council presidents to represent them. we need the voices of parents and students heard on that council.

Author

eyerah

Date

2010-07-12T14:24:26-06:00