As children in the county are heading back to the classroom, the Sunflower County Consolidated School District’s board could be headed to the courtroom.
Documents filed in the Sunflower County Chancery Clerk’s office on July 11 named the district board as defendant in an injunctive relief seeking a temporary restraint and preliminary injunction against renaming Ruleville Central High School to Thomas Edwards Sr. High School.
School alum Tom Foster on behalf of himself and a contingent of unnamed alumni are named as plaintiffs in the documents and a hearing has also been reportedly requested. Attorney Alsee McDaniel, who is representing the group, said on Monday that a hearing had been schedule, but that hearing was postponed.
In the mean time, it appears district officials have apparently gone ahead and renamed the school despite any filings or opposition. In a phone conversation last week, Foster said that a hearing was held earlier that day and the judge is now considering both sides of the argument.
In the court documents, Foster stated that RCHS is over 80 years old with thousands of registered alumni and the decision to rename it will have a detrimental effect on the educational, athletic and other programs of the school as well as the community’s support.
He said the board’s decision to rename the school was based upon a request from the former superintendent’s family members with no input from school officials, students or community members.
The intended purpose of the injunction was to prohibit any further actions to rename the school. Foster and his group are asking the judge to declare that changing the name constitutes a violation of the provisions and spirit of the applicable district policies.
Their contention is based on a December 2018 decision by the school board officers to rename the school in honor of the former superintendent. The document declared that objections were raised and it specifically mentioned a motion filed on April 30 to set the decision aside.
The motion to set aside states that no public notice was held on the matter and according to the document, school board policy provides for community involvement in decision-making. It also states that a 600-signature petition opposing the change was circulated.
The filing also denotes that the opposition to the renaming is not based upon any personal objections against the deceased Thomas Edwards Sr., his family nor the school board, but is filed in good faith solely based upon considerations of the best interest and future support of RCHS and its students.
On July 22, Carlos Palmer, attorney for the SCCSD, filed a motion to strike Foster’s injunction and dismiss all claims citing a disregard for various Mississippi Codes. First, according to the documents Palmer filed, all actions of the school board become official at the time they are taken. Second, an aggrieved person has 10 days to appeal. And third, it has to be appealed to the Circuit Clerk.
Palmer wrote in the document that since the plaintiffs did not follow the provisions for proper filing, “The filings are inconsistent with the law, are moot, and should be stricken. Moreover, all said plaintiffs’ actions in the cause herein should be dismissed.”
A rebuttal to Palmer’s motion to strike was entered on August 8 by McDaniel and in addition to addressing the above stated points it also contends that altering the name of an entire school may require State Board of Education approval, which was purportedly not obtained.
As of press time the two sides were still awaiting a word form the judge.
