The school district voted earlier this month to close two of the county’s elementary schools, citing low enrollment and deficits, but those communities are not letting the doors close this coming May without a fight.
And they have the political backing of District 1 Supervisor Glenn Donald, who suggested twice in the last week that a lawsuit to try and stop the closures is forthcoming.
Donald, along with a small committee of stakeholders, held a community meeting last Thursday night at the same time Sunflower County Consolidated School District Superintendent Dr. Miskia Davis was presenting plans for closure during a community meeting in Sunflower. The district’s meeting in Inverness took place the night before.
“I will use every piece of authority and hookup and connection that I have to make sure Inverness and Sunflower stay open,” Donald told the crowd at the Sunflower County Courthouse.
The district makes a strong case for closure, noting large annual deficits in both schools that would likely only be flipped by a drastic increase in enrollment at both locations.
The schools have seen annual decreases in enrollment, consistent with the county’s steady decrease in population.
Proponents for keeping the schools open have proposed plans for bussing kids to Inverness and Sunflower, rather than shipping their kids to Moorhead and Ruleville respectively.
A redistribution of children, the district says, is not a long-term solution.
Then there’s the matter of schools’ importance to their local economies.
The high school’s closure in Drew several years ago, Donald says, destroyed what was left of that town, and he said the same thing will happen to Sunflower and Inverness if the district moves forward with its plan.
Donald said that he has spoken with attorneys with the hopes they will work pro bono, but he said he is prepared to spend his own money, if necessary, to hire attorneys to fight the closures.
“We are looking at things that we can do that will enhance the probability of stopping them, even if we have to call for their resignations,” Donald said, speaking about both school board members and district administrators.
Thursday’s meeting provided the opportunity for citizens to vent about the issue, something that was hardly afforded anyone at the district’s community meetings last week.
Citing COVID concerns, the district instructed those in attendance to write their questions on index cards, which were answered by Davis at the conclusion of her presentation.
One Inverness parent was asked to leave early on because he stood up to speak. He later returned without incident.
Linda Rule, an advocate for keeping the schools open, said at least one question that was put to Davis during the Inverness meeting was brushed off, and that had to do with the fate of the town if its only school is shuttered.
“She made fun of it, as if it’s not serious,” Rule said. “We know that it’s serious because if you take the school away, that’s about the only thing left, it’s going to decimate the community.”
Davis said at the meeting that the school board was not shutting the town of Inverness down, but she did sympathize with the sentiments.
“We’re not closing the town,” she said. “I understand the impact it has on the town. I understand the impact it’s going to have on the town, but I hope you understand that if we don’t have enough children, we can’t sustain a school.”
Donald said during the meeting that he has requested to meet with the district but that had not happened as of press time on Wednesday.
“I don’t want to wait until May to talk to you,” he said. “I want to talk to you now.”
Donald also took to social media a couple of times this week to update the communities, declaring at one point on Tuesday that he and the concerned citizens are not just a group of disgruntled people.
“We’re not disgruntled,” he said. “We’re disappointed. It’s not disgruntled when you feel misled. It’s not disgruntled when you want your children to get a good education. It’s not disgruntled when you want your children to be able to go to a local school, in their own city. It’s not disgruntled when you consider the economic impact of closing schools are going to do to that city.”
Donald suggested that the deficit spending in Inverness and Sunflower is a problem of the district’s own making.
“We, you, us the taxpayers, give Sunflower School District over $10 million a year,” Donald said. “Every year, they go up. They get more and more. Now, that’s your money. I’m not talking about the state. I’m not talking about what they get from the federal government. When you say you don’t have enough money to keep Inverness up, what are you doing with our $10 million?”
Donald said the district could have come to the board and asked for more money to support the two schools.
Davis said during last Wednesday’s meeting that the county could not reasonably give that kind money annually.
“Yes, the county does give money to the district, but the county cannot give enough money to the district to sustain two schools,” she said. “A million dollars a year, no they don’t give that kind of money.”
Donald said that the district met with the Sunflower County Board of Supervisors prior to the bond issue being passed, and the district meets with the board each year regarding taxes, but he said the district did not appear before the board to talk about school closures ahead of the Jan. 11 decision.
“If you come to us and ask us for more money, then I think you should come to us and talk to us about closing a school,” Donald said.
Donald made jabs at what he suggested were top-heavy central office jobs, which he said have been given to many who don’t live in the county.
“Go to the superintendent’s office and go to the parking lot and count how many cars have Sunflower County tags on them and see how many of the tags have Bolivar County and Washington County and Humphreys County and Leflore County tags,” he said. “It’s mine and your $10 million being sent outside of the county where they live and don’t pay no taxes in the county to put the money back to that $10 million, but you want to shut our schools down.”
Donald said the committee was going to meet on Tuesday night, and they would continue to have dialogue ahead of the school district’s next board meeting.
“We’re not laying down,” he said. “We’re not going away quiet. I thought you knew. I thought you knew that the people of Sunflower County cared. We love our children. We love our schools.”
