A valuable assist from Parents for Public Schools

By Staff
May 4, 2003
Volunteers who organized the Meridian chapter of Parents for Public Schools have now weighed in with what could be a valuable assist. They say they will help Meridian Mayor John Robert Smith with a search for a fifth school board member to fill a vacancy.
The position has officially been vacant since the end of February, when the term of board member Ann Stewart expired. She notified the mayor in plenty of time that she did not wish to be re-appointed, but, to this date, the mayor has not seen fit to name a replacement.
PPS president Tommy Little and his group are right to assume this leadership role as they work cooperatively with the school board to rebuild a system that clearly is damaged. Experts have suggested that the search for a new superintendent will be adversely affected by a school board vacancy because the kind of experienced, knowledgeable candidate city schools need will first want to know his or her bosses.
The longer the vacancy is allowed to exist, the more likely the search for a superintendent will be impeded, and finding a new superintendent is the school board's top priority. More delay in filling the vacancy is simply unacceptable.
We hope PPS and other interested parties can get the mayor's ear quickly. A defining issue is how to get more parents more involved in their public schools and the suggestions made by the group could help the mayor make a decision. The sooner the better.