James Waldington-Johnson, former superintendent of the West Bolivar Consolidated School District. Credit: West Bolivar Consolidated School District

ROSEDALE – The Board of Trustees of the West Bolivar Consolidated School District fired superintendent James Waldington-Johnson at a specially called meeting, effectively immediately.

Everette Stanton, president of the board, confirmed Thursday’s action but indicated he could not discuss why this decision was made due to personnel policy.

The Bolivar Commercial newspaper has reported that Waldington-Johnson recommended the board consider closing West Bolivar High School for the upcoming term because student population is declining in Rosedale schools. In his proposal, high school students would move to the West Bolivar Middle School campus, with that school’s name changed to West Bolivar High School.

Stanton told Mississippi Today the board did not consider such a change: “No, that was just a recommendation.” He added board members would have to investigate further before making any type of decision.

The next board meeting will be at 5 p.m. April 28 at the Joe Barnes Career & Technical Center in Rosedale.

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Aallyah Wright is a native of Clarksdale, and was a Mississippi Delta reporter covering education and local government. She was also a weekly news co-host on WROX Radio (97.5 FM) and collaborator with StoryWorks/Reveal Labs from the Center for Investigative Reporting. Aallyah has a bachelor’s in journalism with minors in communications and theater from Delta State University. She is a 2018 Educating Children in Mississippi Fellow at the Hechinger Report, and co-founder of the Mississippi Delta Public Newsroom.