ROSEDALE – The Board of Trustees of the West Bolivar Consolidated School District placed their interim superintendent on leave at a special meeting last week.

Everette Stanton, President of the Board of Trustees of the West Bolivar Consolidated School District Credit: West Bolivar Consolidated School District

In a phone call with Mississippi Today, Evereth Stanton, president of the school board,  confirmed that two administrators were placed on leave. Stanton declined to share their names or the reason for the action because it involved personnel decisions.

The Bolivar Commercial reported that Stanton said that during executive session the board “relieved Mr. (Larry) Walker as interim superintendent and placed him on administrative leave, pending a complete review of his job performance and other related actions.” The newspaper said Stanton “also confirmed that earlier in the week Curriculum Coordinator Barbara Flore was placed on administrative leave.”

Charles Baron was present at Wednesday’s board meeting as the acting superintendent.

The personnel action came as Patrice Guilfoyle, communications director for the Mississippi Department of Education, said the Office of Accreditation had received a complaint on Wednesday about grade changes. Guilfoyle said in an email that MDE is not currently investigating grade changes in the district.

Larry Walker, Interim Superintendent of the West Bolivar Consolidated School District, has been placed on leave Credit: Aallyah Wright, Mississippi Today

The development occurred as the school district is moving forward with its superintendent search. The district hired the Mississippi School Boards Association to conduct a search for their new superintendent.

On Wednesday, the Mississippi School Boards Association presented 19 applications it had received to the board during executive session. The position opened on June 7.

The list of applications included: two seated applicants, six former superintendents, two assistant superintendents, two program directors, two curriculum directors, two special education directors, one school principal, one assistant principal, and a charter school educator.

Among that list, ten have doctorate degrees, eight are female, and 11 are male, according to a press release from Denotris Jackson, assistant executive director of the Mississippi School Boards Association.

The board is in the process of reviewing the applications. Their next board meeting is on Friday at 10 a.m. at the Joe Barnes Vocational Center here.

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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.