NATCHEZ — If Natchez-Adams School District employees want children to become responsible adults, one school board member said teachers ought to practice what they preach.

School board member Phillip West said at Tuesday’s board meeting he wanted to require every employee in the district to become a registered voter.

“All of us who work in the school district, in particular teachers and administrators, we are role models to the children,” West said. “We expect the children to be responsible citizens, and I think we ought to be expressing responsible citizenship, especially in (the political) arena.”

West said he wanted to warn board members he was bringing the discussion up during January’s meeting, but board Secretary Thelma Newsome suggested the board ask attorney Bruce Kuehnle to draft a policy for the board to review in time for January’s meeting.

Newsome said board members could discuss what they agreed and disagreed with better with a fleshed out item on the agenda, and could then potentially bring a concrete policy back for adoption in February or March.

West said he liked that suggestion better.

“That’s only speeding it up,” West said, laughing.

West said the policy would allow for religious exemptions.

The former Natchez mayor acknowledged the possibility of the school district’s plan to build a new high school coming to a referendum being placed on the ballot in the future, but he said whether the building vote passes or fails is not the cause for his suggested voter registration policy.

“I just believe we ought to practice what we preach,” he said. “We ought to be exercising the same responsibility we expect and require of (the students).”

The district’s architecture consultants delivered potential plans for a new school complex on the bean field site located next to the current high school last month. That construction plan would cost $22 million.

The school board has not committed to any building plans, as other options including renovations have also been drawn up at a lessor cost. The board has also not decided financing options, but has hired Natchez native Tony Gaylor of Chambers & Gaylor Law Firm of Jackson as the financial consultant.

One potential financial option has come up through construction management consultant Volkert Inc., — creation of a public referendum on funding the school construction.The referendum would be to renew two bonds scheduled to retire in 2017 and 2018, respectively. Volkert representatives have said if the referendum passed, a new school could be built without new taxes.