The state Department of Education is monitoring Jackson Public Schools’ board meetings in response to complaints from school district employees and the community.
State Superintendent of Education Hank Bounds’ office received numerous phone calls from JPS employees, “parents and other citizens about the length of the board meetings and how the board meetings were being conducted,” said Martez Hill, chief deputy state superintendent of policy and operations.
There also have been complaints about the board “micromanaging the day-to-day affairs of the district,” Hill said.
The meetings in the state’s second largest school district are scheduled to start at 5:30 p.m. and sometimes continue on past midnight. The board sometimes stays in closed session for hours after the regular public portion of the meeting has ended. Hill said he does not stay at the meetings while the board is in closed session.
