A subset of Columbus High School parents have formed a Parent Action Committee in the hopes of effecting positive change within the city school district.
Tuesday night, a committee spokesperson, Columbus Municipal Court Judge Nicole Clinkscales, spoke to the Columbus Municipal School District’s Board of Trustees, clarifying the group’s motivations and purpose.
She said though the group has been characterized as a “lynch mob” set upon ousting current school leadership, they serve more as a watchdog, committed to promoting and protecting education in the city schools.
Among the group’s primary concerns: Textbook shortages, school safety, discipline and dropout rates.
“You may have heard our goal is to get rid of a principal,” Clinkscales said. “It’s not.”
Current Columbus High School Principal Scott Hallmark took the position in May after former principal Craig Shannon resigned from his post to return to the central office and continue his duties as special assistant to the superintendent. He was selected by an eight-member committee comprised of Columbus High School teachers, parents, community members and the CMSD central office staff.
Hallmark served as associate principal of West Point High School for seven years and listed dress code enforcement, discipline and school safety among his top priorities when joining the CHS administrative staff.
But after the CMSD board meeting, Clinkscales, along with PAC member and CHS parent Rev. Tony Montgomery, said Hallmark has taken that goal too far, focusing on discipline — particularly dress code enforcement — at the expense of classroom instruction.
“Coming in the door, it seems as if the new principal was out to mete extreme discipline, because it seemed to come out of nowhere,” she said.
The group, which Clinkscales said is made up of around 80 CHS and Columbus Middle School parents, formed in July and has been meeting regularly since the school year began.
Clinkscales has a tenth-grader at the school, and Montgomery has a tenth-grader and a senior.
An immediate issue was a lack of textbooks. Clinkscales said students taking English 10, Biology, U.S. History and Algebra I have to share books in class and are not allowed to take the books home to study or do homework.
All four subjects are tested on the state’s accountability tests, which the high school fared poorly in last year, placing the school on academic watch. The previous year, the Mississippi Department of Education ranked the school at risk of failing.
Two weeks ago, members of PAC met with CMSD Interim Superintendent Dr. Martha Liddell, Hallmark and other school officials to discuss the book shortage.
Thursday night, via telephone, Liddell confirmed that she had been notified of a shortage in U.S. History textbooks due to the course being expanded this year and offered to freshmen. Around 120 books were ordered this week, Liddell said, which should rectify the situation. She said she was not aware of shortages in other classes.
Another concern Clinkscales raised was school safety, and she said some parents feel two school resource officers are not adequate.
However, Liddell said the district is actually “very fortunate” to have three resource officers on the payroll, two of whom are assigned specifically to Columbus High School.
“I would think there are enough resource officers in the district to meet our needs,” Liddell said. “Our students, for the most part, do what they’re supposed to do.”
Liddell said as a parent, she would be “nervous” if she walked into a school that was teeming with police officers.
But she welcomes the input from PAC and is open to hearing their suggestions. In the past, PAC and CMSD have worked together on several projects, including abstinence education and dropout prevention.
“As a school district, we feel like PAC is a very helpful organization, very supportive of the school district,” Liddell said. “We feel like their hearts are in the right place. … We’re pleased with their involvement.”
But in terms of Hallmark’s discipline measures, Liddell said to her knowledge, he’s “pretty much enforcing the handbook” and that she’s not aware of any changes to the dress code or other school rules.
“Our position is, from the standpoint of school safety, that we expect all of our administrators to enforce the guidelines in the handbook,” Liddell said. “As long, as he’s enforcing the handbook, we support that.”
She said by following the guidelines in the student handbook, principals and school administrators are free from having to make “subjective” decisions about whether a student’s apparel adheres to the dress code.
“My concern would be that he’s making sure he’s enforcing the handbook rules the way the board has adopted it,” Liddell said.
While the group doesn’t list Hallmark’s ouster as their primary objective, Clinkscales said they would consider it “if that happens to be necessary to get the school back on track.”
“Don’t think we don’t believe in discipline,” Montgomery said. “We’re looking for balance.”
In a statement emailed to The Dispatch Thursday morning, Hallmark said the school “is committed to improving student achievement and to providing all students a high quality education in a safe and orderly environment. The lines of communication between parents, educators and administrators are open and we welcome input from all stakeholders.”
Liddell echoed his remarks.
“We definitely believe in the power of parents and their input,” she said. “We appreciate the hard work they’re doing as far as advocacy.”
Carmen K. Sisson is the former news editor at The Dispatch.
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