The third time was the charm for Debra Prince.
It took Mayor Lynn Spruill casting a tie-breaking vote against Sumner Davis for Prince, who has applied three times for a post on the Starkville-Oktibbeha Consolidated School District board of trustees, to earn unanimous support from the board.
Prince applied for the school board earlier this year, when aldermen appointed Melissa Luckett to replace Jenny Turner; and in 2016, when aldermen appointed Anne Stricklin. Now, Prince replaces Stricklin, who left the board in June to move out of state.
Prince, an associate professor in Mississippi State University’s Department of Counseling, Educational Psychology and Foundations; and Davis, head of the MSU Extension Center for Government and Communication Development, were two of a three-candidate field for Stricklin’s former school board seat. Lisa Long, a research associate in the Social Science Research Center, also sought the post.
Ward 5 Alderman Patrick Miller moved to appoint Davis, with a second from Ward 1 Alderman Ben Carver. They gained support from Ward 3 Alderman David Little, while Ward 2 Alderman Sandra Sistrunk, Ward 6 Alderman Roy A. Perkins and Ward 7 Alderman Henry Vaughn voted against Davis.
Ward 4 Alderman Jason Walker recused himself from the vote because his wife works in the school district.
After the Davis vote failed, Perkins moved to appoint Prince, with a second from Miller. Aldermen voted 6-0 to appoint her. She will serve the remainder of Stricklin’s term, which ends in March 2019.
Spruill vote
Spruill, before she cast her vote against Davis, said she hoped the vote wouldn’t fall to her because she felt each candidate was qualified to sit on the school board. However, she said she found it important to increase diversity on the school board.
“One of the things that I am finding important to me is that we do have the equitable representation — and I’m not talking about race, I’m talking about gender,” Spruill said. “It’s important to me to see more than one woman on (the five-member school) board. So in this case, I’m going to vote nay, and it pains me greatly because I consider Sumner Davis a friend.”
Carver, speaking to a contingent of people who showed up to support Davis, said aldermen typically have their minds made up before meetings. He said he was pleased with the field of candidates, but supported Davis because he’s familiar with working with him.
“Oftentimes, the votes are already in place long before we get here,” Carver said. “The candidates we have — anybody that gets in tonight, I’ll be pleased with. I think any school district in the state of Mississippi would be pleased with any of these candidates.”
Vaughn, before the Davis vote, referenced Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech and questioned if race had anything to do with the potential hurdle to appointing Prince, who is black. He further challenged aldermen to live up to their campaign trail promises of seeking the most qualified applicants for appointed posts.
“If you can’t follow your heart, you lied to the oath that we took when we first were sworn in,” Vaughn said. “… I just want to know where we’re going to go tonight, because we have heard Dr. Prince over and over. This is her third time here. To me, it ain’t about color because I very rarely know Dr. Prince. It ain’t about color. It’s about the best person for the job — that’s what it’s about.”
Prince reaction
After the vote, Prince said she was “speechless” when she realized the board was going to appoint her.
“This is my third time, but when you’re right, you just keep on doing it — stick with it,” she said.
Prince said she wants to focus on improving student achievement. During her interview before the board of aldermen earlier in the month, she pointed out Starkville has one of the worst achievement gaps in the state between black and white students. While fixing that will be a focus, she said she wants to see all district students improve.
“My main focus is academic achievement for everyone, because when you pull the top up, you pull everybody,” she said. “That has to be our main focus — to pull up achievements for everyone. I know there’s been concern that I’m only going to focus on the bottom.
“I’m concerned about each level because they each have their own needs,” she added. “But the main thing we have to do is engage all of our students in the district.”
A wave of public support helped push Prince to the board post. Seventeen people, for more than 30 minutes, touted to aldermen Prince’s experience and qualifications.
Former board member Eddie Myles said he believed Prince has the characteristics needed to improve the district. He called her a visionary who is accountability driven and will work to improve student achievement.
“Debra Prince is open, honest, transparent, dependable, trustworthy and most importantly she is passionate, and I don’t use passionate lightly,” he said. “(She is) passionate about making a meaningful difference in the lives of all students.”
Alex Holloway was formerly a reporter with The Dispatch.
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