Pay attention. Our democratic process in Natchez is about to be circumvented!

In case you didn’t see the article in The Natchez Democrat Saturday, our non-elected Natchez -Adams County School Board is trying to do an “end run” around the democratic voting process of our town.  As you know, in May we voted down the referendum to give the School Board $35 million for a new school and repairs to old schools by a failure of 11.2 percent. (60-percent approval was needed.)

In order to subvert the will of the electorate, the School Board is planning to borrow $9 million for unspecified improvements, with no vote by the community.  It would then, most likely, ask for a millage increase to a maximum 55 mills, (1 mill equals $1 per $1,000 of assessed value on real estate, car tags, business property and mobile homes). They would not need our vote to accomplish this.

Whether you were for or against the original referendum, I feel sure that you will agree that this is an extremely dangerous and scary precedent to be set by an appointed board, or any board for that matter. This type of “end running” must be stopped, and we are in urgent need of your help to do so. By this Thursday, we need 4,000 registered voters in Adams County to sign the petition to have this proposal put on the ballot for our scheduled election this fall. The school board would then have to provide us with detailed information as to the full purpose of the loan. Our task of getting so many signatures has been made difficult because of such short notice, and because so many people are out of town on summer vacation. But, we can do it!

As a past teacher in the Adams County School system, I would love to see our schools doing well. Our community would benefit tremendously if it did.

I even believe that in time we should put some money in new infrastructure. However, until our school board can prove that it is spending our money wisely, I am for waiting. For one, our school district is extremely top heavy at the administrative level. If you are interested in seeing just where so much of the school money does go, be sure and look at the Natchez-Adams County School District website and look under “Staff.”  You will see 70 names listed with each one’s title. Note that this does not include principals, vice-principals, teachers, etc. This is just for administration and upkeep at the top level.  (The school board was unwilling to give us salary information, but we are checking if it can be obtained through the Freedom of Information Act.)

Why do we need a public-relations person?  How many “assistants” are really needed?  What is a “warehouse courier?” The list goes on and on. And, check our ranking among Mississippi school districts. We are 104th out of 126 that are ranked.   Rankings can be found at www.schooldigger.com.

If you check further at www.empowerms.org, you can find the amount spent per student by each school district in Mississippi. You will see that we are toward the top for expenditure per pupil – $10,253.20. Be sure and note that many of the school districts that spend the least money have the highest rankings. And vice-versa applies for the highest spending. Obviously, more money doesn’t always buy more success!

Listed below are the businesses that will have petition sheets that you can sign if you are an Adams County registered voter. please go today and sign.  Let us prove that our community cares enough about its democratic process not to let a few people sabotage it.  If we don’t stop this sort of “end running” now, we will not just be on a “slippery slope,” but we will be a long, long way down that hill!

Petitions can be signed at: Ram Rent All, Inc., Oh So Classy Events and Party Rental, BB’s Grill, Wilson Supply, Ketco Advertising & Specialties, Black Jack Oil Company and Wilson-Holder Drugs.

If you would like to circulate a petition in your neighborhood or have some at your business, please let us know at natchezx@hotmail.com, and we will get sheets to you right away.
Marcia McCullough is a Natchez resident and taxpayer.