When Lynn Wright assumes the seat as Lowndes County School superintendent in January, he’ll enter office making 40 percent more than his predecessor’s starting salary, thanks to a unanimous vote by the county school board during Friday’s meeting.
Wright was named the new superintendent following the November general election in which he defeated opponents Cliff Reynolds, a Democrat, and Rusty Greene, an independent candidate. He defeated Assistant Superintendent Edna McGill in the Republican primary runoff.
New Hope Middle School Principal Sam Allison was ousted from the race in the August Republican primary election. And Caledonia Elementary School Principal Roger Hill, an independent, dropped out of the race early.
His starting salary will be $117,500 per year.
Outgoing Superintendent Mike Halford was elected eight years ago at a salary of $84,000 per year. He decided not to run for re-election after serving two terms.
The board decided in October to set the incoming superintendent’s salary at a base level of $100,000, agreeing to increase that amount based upon experience and years of service. They also agreed to cap the salary at $125,000, which is Halford’s current salary.
They reached the figure for Wright’s salary by applying the $100,000 base level, then adding $500 for each of Wright’s 35 years of experience.
He served 28 years as a principal in various districts, including three years as principal of New Hope High School.
In other news, county school board members were exhorted to re-examine the district’s maps and redraw district boundaries to allow greater racial diversity on the board.
Robert Phillips of the West Lowndes Parents Association has spoken to the board several times about redistricting concerns, and he reiterated his points Friday, saying the current district map was drawn incorrectly, over-representing some segments of the population and under-representing others.
The result, Phillips said, is that the board is racially imbalanced, having only one black board member — Jacqueline Gray — when there should be two.
The county schools have an enrollment of 61.9 percent white students and 35.9 percent black.
Phillips held the District 5 school board seat from 1983 to 1989.
“You need to take it seriously because we’re not stopping here,” Phillips said. “Give it some serious consideration and do something about it.”
“We’ll leave it to the experts to divide it up,” Board President Robert Barksdale said.
Bridge and Watson, an Oxford firm, has been contracted by the board to handle the redistricting plan. New maps must be reviewed by the Justice Department and approved by the Lowndes County Board of Supervisors.
Carmen K. Sisson is the former news editor at The Dispatch.
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