In the midst of conflicting time frames surrounding appointment tenures, one former school trustee has stepped down from her seat.
According to school board officials, Deborah Crook voluntarily relinquished her post on the Yazoo City Municipal School District Board last week.
Newly-appointed trustee Vanessa Crowder appeared with the remaining school board during its monthly meeting last Thursday.
During a prior special meeting, both women sat at the table before recusing themselves from voting.
But Crowder sat alone this week.
“This board has made the unanimous decision to accept Mrs. Crowder as a member of this board until we hear otherwise,” said John Wallace, school board president. “We don’t seek pinions outside of this board...but Mrs. Crook has that right if she so chooses.”
Crook was not present during Thursday’s open meeting.
The normally smooth transition among school board trustees took a turn during the most recent appointment, making headlines for several weeks.
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 remained in her seat because some school board members said her tenure actually ended in June. Their argument was based on the city’s charter.
The matter took a potential legal turn as both city and school officials addressed the matter under “litigation” in executive sessions.
During the last city council meeting, Alderman Aubry Brent Jr. made the motion to forcibly remove Crook if she attempted to sit at the table during the next school board meeting. His motion died for a lack of second.
Brent, along with Aldermen Ron Johnson and Gregory Robertson, were also in the audience during Thursday’s school board meeting.
The school board continued with its agenda after Wallace’s announcement surrounding Crowder’s seat.
In other school board news:
•The board extended the deadline to solicit input from the community in the district’s superintendent search.
Questions may be dropped off at The Herald’s office on Grand Avenue.
