Jackson Free Press

As Jackson Public Schools Superintendent Lonnie Edwards fights for an extension to his contract, he has tried to make the case that the district's Board of Trustees micromanagement hampered his ability to lead. Today, in the third day of a hearing on Edwards' contract, Edwards' attorney, former Jackson Mayor Dale Danks, suggested that the board's consideration of a residency requirement for district employees kept Edwards from assembling his administrative team.

The proposed policy, which the board considered in 2009, died a quiet death with the appointment of new board members in late 2009 and early 2010. Questioning former board member Jonathan Larkin, Danks claimed that other former members, including Delmer Stamps and Sollie Norwood, sent instructions to Edwards to suspend new hiring while the board considered the policy, which would have required all new hires to live within Hinds County.

The district's hiring practices were at a "standstill" while the board considered the policy, Danks said.

"They shouldn't have been, because there was no residency policy in place," Larkin, who opposed the policy, responded. "This school district, if it's operating correctly, should not have suspended any type of search for district executives, teachers or employees."

Larkin was one of two board members to vote against hiring Edwards in 2008. The board's search for a replacement for Edwards' predecessor, Earl Watkins, was relatively brief, and his opposition to Edwards' hiring was not personal, Larkin testified today.

"I felt that the search was not as thorough as it could have been," Larkin said. "A lot of that had to do with timing. We were doing this during the spring. Typically that's not a good time (for a search). ... I wasn't saying no to him; I was saying, 'I think we need to look further.'"

Following Edwards' first year, the 2008-2009 school year, the board provided him with an evaluation that found he was falling below expectations on a number of key goals, including improving the district's academic achievement. Then, in Sept. 2009, the board gave the superintendent an improvement plan with specific job targets to meet, backed up with the possibility of further disciplinary action.