Vaiden Mayor Mel Hawthorne informed Aldermen Curtis Meeks, Theo Purnell and Alderwoman Lesia Hemphill that the Carroll County School Board will no longer hold the board meetings in Vaiden.
“No, they won’t be here anymore, MiMi [Alldread] the secretary, called me and told them that [the school board] decided not to hold them here,” Hawthorne said.
“Why did they decide that?” Purnell asked.
“Because they said it was hard for the kids who live in Teoc to come to Vaiden, I guess,” Hawthorne said.
“But, isn’t it the same thing for the kids in Vaiden?” Purnell asked.
“Yeah, it is,” Hawthorne said. “But, it’s their decision.”
The Carroll County School Board will now permanently hold its meetings at the J.Z. George High School Band Hall. The decision was made in January at their regular board meeting. President Donnie Wiltshire said the decision was made because of an audit from the Mississippi Department of Education.
A portion of the 30-page audit dealt directly with school board members. It stated the board, as a whole, failed to act as the governing body of the district, could not be heard, did not trust each other and one meddled in day-to-day things. As a result, the board had an intensive training session to which was the recommendation of the MDE.
It was also the recommendation of the MDE that Carroll County hold their meetings in a central location because special called meetings were held at the Central Office and there was not any room for the public to attend them.
Because Carroll County has two county seats, the school board – like the Board of Supervisors, held their meetings in both seats. Both were on the same set schedule, odd month meetings were in Carrollton and even month meetings were in Vaiden.
Hawthorne said originally the meetings were held in the Vaiden courthouse and it was the request of the school board to move them to Vaiden’s town hall. However, a second option for Vaiden was not mentioned during the school board’s discussion.
