Alcorn School District
grilled at heated meeting
Published Thursday, April 24
By Jebb Johnston
Staff Writer

Alcorn School District officials faced stern criticism, accusations and recommendations in a lengthy meeting Tuesday with a full house of concerned parents and citizens.

About a half dozen residents addressed the county board of education in a meeting lasting more than two hours before the board went into a closed session. County supervisors Gary Ross, Jeff Rencher and Jeff Patterson were also present.

No action was taken on appointing a replacement for third district school board member Wilson Busby, who died last week, but some suggestions were presented to the board. During a recent meeting of parents at Biggersville,

Noble Williams said the group decided to suggest Jerry Benjamin, Carol Morton and John Stanton. It was also noted that Lamar Walker has expressed his intent to seek the post in the next election.

Suggestions are still welcome, said Board President Jan Haley, and she suggested leaving resume-style documents with the superintendent's office.

The board must appointment a replacement within 60 days of the resignation date, and a special election for the post will be held with November's general election.

Addressing the board on the ongoing financial crisis, Jimmy Cooper, representing concerned parents, suggested pursuing a civil action against former superintendent Mike Wamsley, who he said did not attend a school board meeting from March to December of 2007.

"If I was in your position, I would be furious," he told the board. "Our money is the money that got misplaced."

A question aimed at the gathered parents -- "How many of you think the board should go after Mr. Wamsley to get our money back?" -- was followed by a burst of applause.

"Board, if you don't go after Wamsley to get our money back, that means he didn't mislead you," said Cooper. "If you're misled over your money, that's a violation, and you should take action to get it.

"You're bonded," he continued. "Maybe you all can write us a check for $1.4 million."

Cooper said the manual for school board members calls lack of attendance at board meetings by a superintendent a "red flag."

He also presented a number of suggestions for trimming costs:

- Cut duplication in bus routes and consider using a general contractor to oversee bussing, a move that he said is saving West Point schools $200,000 per year without cutting any employees.

- Consider a four-day school week. (Schools are required to have class for at least 180 days.)

- Cut personnel other than teachers.

- Consolidate school offices into the Alcorn Education Center, where the school board holds its meetings.

The school board responded to this point later in remarks by board member Gary Wren, who said that the board paid debt related to new weight rooms to help two booster clubs so that the clubs could afford to spend money on their normal activities. The $100,000 spent on that debt would have been spent on renovations at the Alcorn Education Center, and that's why the building remains under-utilized, said Wren.

If the district sells the building, the money would go back to the building fund, he said.

Wren said the board isn't happy with where things stand and is working to learn "how this happened and how it happened so quickly."

He said a major factor has been a decline in ad valorem tax revenue. From a high of more than $4.4 million in 2003-2004, the number slipped to about $4 million in 2006-2007. It is projected to be $4,277,289 this year.

If the numbers had not declined, he said the district would still be "in the black." Wren said increases in personnel has been another factor. The number of employees rose from 543 in 2003-2004 to 568 in the current school year.

Nineteen of those 25 positions are teachers, janitors and teacher assistants; four are central office staff; and two are employed at the alternative school.

That increased payroll expenses by $1 million, while the number of students in the district was virtually unchanged during the same time period.

In other remarks to the board, Steve Wilbanks alleged that the decision not to rehire his sister, a 29-year employee, was politically motivated, and he directly addressed the superintendent, assistant superintendent and board with comments about his lack of faith in them.

Thurston Little encouraged the concerned parents to keep their cool.

"I'm begging you, for the sake of this school system, keep your temper toned down," he said.

Charles Leonard and Heather Stanford also addressed the board.

In other business, the board adopted new employment and retention procedures for the filling of vacancies and for retention in times of staff reductions.

Superintendent Stacy Suggs said the policy emphasizes keeping the most qualified person for the position. The policy was adopted despite Suggs' recommendation to let principals review it first.

The board also slashed the employee mileage reimbursement from 48.5 cents per mile to 40 cents per mile. The new state rate is 50.5 cents per mile.

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