Alderman Aubry Brent Jr. said it’s time to address “the elephant in the room” when it comes to the recent heated battle between city leaders and school trustees.
Brent said it’s not about the students. He said it’s not even about the city’s recent appointment of Vanessa Crowder to the school board. He said it’s not about former trustee Deborah Crook “refusing to leave her seat.”
Brent said the battle all comes down to what he believes is a fixed vote that will place Interim Superintendent Lucille Lovette as the district’s new leader.
“All I heard from everybody involved is that ‘it’s all about the children. We must do what is best for the children,’” Brent said. “I beg to differ. It is all about the elephant in the room.”
Brent said school trustees John Wallace, Willye Neal Thomas and Crook are in full support of hiring Lovette as the district’s next superintendent.
Despite having spent $5,000 for the Mississippi School Board Association to assist with the selection, Brent said he believes those three trustees have already made their selection.
“They had people from all over the state apply when they, meaning Wallace, Thomas and Crook, knew they would be voting for Lovette,” Brent said. “Why is Mrs. Crook fighting so hard to stay on for an additional ten weeks? This is why (she) will not relinquish her seat.”
What Began
the Battle?
The Board of Mayor and Aldermen appointed Crowder to replace Crook on the Yazoo City Municipal School Board last month. City leaders then told Crowder to assume her seat on the first Saturday of March, based on state law.
Crook has not vacated her seat because some school board members said her tenure ends in June. Their argument is based on the city’s charter.
The debate on state laws versus the local charter first appeared in 2010.
“Back in 2010, historically, the city clerk has always taken the minutes for the school board,” said Sarah O’Reilly-Evans, city board attorney. “That is our (the city of Yazoo City) charter. The school board refused to let the city clerk take the minutes, saying they now wanted the superintendent to do it.”
O’Reilly-Evans said the Attorney General issued an opinion stating that the board should continue to follow the city’s charter, allowing the city clerk to take the school board minutes.
“The school board then wrote the Attorney General to reconsider that because there is a uniform school law,” O’Reilly-Evans said. “They wanted to be able to follow the uniform school law.”
The Attorney General then followed up with a different opinion, allowing the school district to record its own minutes.
The school board has recorded its own minutes since then.
The argument of following state laws versus the city charter resurfaced with the recent school bord appointment.
The city council chose to follow state law, which said that Crowder would take her seat on “the first Saturday of March.”
But now the school board, which chose to follow state law in the past, has said it wants to return to following the city’s charter.
“Your (city) charter says that you are to appoint in April, to take effect in June,” O’Rielly-Evans said. “Now they (the school board) are saying that they want to follow your charter.”
O’Reilly-Evans said she feels the school board shouldn’t “flip-flop” with which Attorney General’s opinion they want to follow.
“These opinions are flipping back and forth,” she said. “And the Attorney General opinion would be just that, an opinion.”
Two at the Table
During a special school board meeting last Friday, both Crowder and Crook sat at the table, later recusing themselves from voting on particular issues.
Brent said the refusal of the majority of the school board to recognize the city’s new appointment goes against state law.
“The school board cannot usurp the authority of the Board of Mayor and Aldermen,” Brent said. “They are guilty of obstruction.”
Brent said state law supercedes any local law.
“The school board and Mrs. Crook are in contempt of the law,” Brent said. “The school board is overstepping its boundaries. (Crook) refuses to vacate her seat. She is no longer a member of the board.”
Brent said the school board picks what laws to follow based on what the majority wants to get done.
“State law will always trump local ordinances,” he said. “It was the reason the school board used their own personnel rather than use our city clerk because the state law said they could do that. Now they are wanting to suggest that our appointment of Crowder did not follow a local ordinance. You can’t have it both ways.”
