Memorandum (School Board Appointment)

MEMORANDUM
TO: City Council Members
FROM: Michael J. Favre, Mayor
DATE: Wednesday, February 28, 2018
REF: Recommendation of Appointee to School Board of Trustees
Please allow this memorandum to serve as my recommendation of the appointment of Ms. Ann Lathrop to the Board
of Trustees for the Bay-Waveland School District to fill a five year term in office. If ratified by this honorable council,
Ms. Lathrop would fill a term of office effective immediately until the expiration of her term on February 28, 2023.
Ms. Lathrop, a resident of Bay Saint Louis, is a recent retiree from the Bay-Waveland School District, where she
served the majority of her career as a classroom teacher and most recently as the school’s curriculum and testing
coordinator at Bay High School. She has worked in public education for over twenty-seven years. Ms. Lathrop comes
highly recommended by her colleagues in the profession, former students and parents, and community members alike.
In fact, I have not had a single person express concern over her ability to represent the Bay-Waveland School District
with the utmost integrity.
In the weeks preceding this recommendation, there has been much discussion for the need for minority representation
on our school board. According to Merriam-Webster, the term minority applies to “the smaller in number of two
groups constituting a whole” and “a part of a population differing from others in some characteristics and often
subjected to differential treatment.” That said, I feel that Ms. Lathrop is fully capable of representing multiple
minority groups, and I do not think that race is the only minority classification that should be given our consideration.
It would be impossible to attempt to represent every race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, political alignment,
etc. on a school board consisting of three appointed members, and I do not feel it is our place as Mayor or Council to
determine which minority groups deserve to be represented on our school board. In fact, I think that being a minority
in any protected class provides the foundation for representation of minorities universally. I also do not feel it is our
place as Mayor or Council to determine that Ms. Lathrop is not “enough of a minority” to answer the call of making
unbiased and fair decisions as a school board member.
Over the course of the last two years, it has been brought to my attention numerous times that the votes cast by Mrs.
Thomas are not aligned with the beliefs and forward path of our city and school district. During my interview with
Mrs. Thomas, she demonstrated no willingness to accept her responsibility for decisions she made as a school board
member. Some of those decisions, that I feel are not congruent with our city’s beliefs, are as follows:
 In 2017, there was a total of $480,000+ in state education funding cuts to the Bay-Waveland School
District, and positions eliminated included classroom teachers throughout the district and an assistant principal
at Bay-Waveland Middle School. In order to build a world-class school district that attracts economic
development to our city, the focus must be on classroom instruction.
Michael J. Favre, Mayor

City of Bay Saint Louis
688 U.S. Highway 90
Bay Saint Louis, MS 39520

 The BWSD Board of Trustees demonstrated disregard for Ethics Commission Opinion # 17-004-E by hiring a
Superintendent of Education and School Business Manager who are siblings. In addition to being ruled
unethical, this decision exposes the school district to unnecessary financial risks, risks that this council likely
would not be willing to take if this decision was there decision to make.
 The BWSD Board of Trustees violated the Open Meetings Act in August 2017 (citation attached) by
conducting an improper executive session to extend the term of the contracts for these two employees to a
period of four years. This action was agreed to by Mrs. Thomas with no advance knowledge on the part of
her board member colleagues, Mr. Favre and Mrs. Arnold. It should be noted this decision was against legal
advice issued by both the school board attorney and an attorney working as an independent contractor to
the school district.
 Multiple stakeholders have expressed concern regarding the Superintendent’s qualifications, as she had
never been a school principal, was never interviewed by the Board of Trustees and has yet to identify her
strategic vision for our school system. It is difficult to believe, but Mrs. Thomas actually voted to hire and
extend a four-year contract to a Superintendent she never interviewed.
I have learned of multiple other instances of actions that are not aligned with our goals as a city, which are
troublesome to me. I believe that it is long overdue that we have cohesive representation on our school board that
acts in the best interest of our children in Bay St. Louis and Waveland. It is important to note that my decision is
solely based on the well-evidenced fact that Mrs. Thomas has different philosophies, reflected in her voting record,
than the philosophies we hold for the future of the BWSD, the City of Bay St. Louis and the children of our community.
As I set out to determine the candidate I intended to appoint, I solicited input from each of you on October 5, 2017.
In order to make a decision that was fair and in the best interest of the students of BWSD, I posted the position,
solicited resumes and conducted a formal interview in front of a panel consisting of myself and the following:
 Sissy Gonzales, City Clerk, who has a background in school finance with the Pass Christian School District.
 Gary Ponthieaux, Chief of Police, who plays an integral part in ensuring the safety of our schools and
working with school officials with our School Resource Officer program.
 Heather Ladner, City Attorney, who has served as co-counsel for City of Gulfport Public School District and
the Bay-Waveland School District in her work with Butler Snow.
A thorough, fair set of questions was asked of each candidate, and the responses received clearly defined the best
candidate that is most closely aligned with our city’s goals of fiscal responsibility, governmental transparency and
willingness to hold themselves and others accountable for the decisions made relative to school board matters. In
times of potential financial cuts from state education funding sources, the school board will have to figure out ways to
do more, with less money, and achieve better outcomes. This is a task that will take a tremendous amount of hard
work, and Ms. Lathrop is most certainly up for the challenge and capable of taking the school district in the direction
it needs to go.

688 U.S. Highway 90

Throughout this process, it has become evident to me there is no better candidate than Ms. Lathrop, and I feel that for
this council to deny ratification of this appointment in hopes that I would reappoint Mrs. Thomas would be a disservice
to our school system, as Ms. Lathrop’s qualifications are not in dispute. Furthermore, to delay ratification at this point
will serve no other purpose other than to further increase the divisiveness in our community and delay the work that
needs to take place to better our schools. Absent of good reason as to why Ms. Lathrop should not be appointed, I
feel that this council should support my decision as Mayor in making this appointment, as ultimately, the accountability
factor applies to me as well and I too must answer for the decision being made. I am confident that Ms. Lathrop will
be a highly engaged board member that truly works with her fellow board members to ensure financial
responsibility, transparency to the public and advancement of student achievement.
Moving forward, I will lay out a plan that requires all appointed school board members to keep this council informed
of adversarial, controversial and important decisions so that when their appointment comes due, we can make the
most informed decision. With highest regards, I thank you for your ratification of this appointment.

688 U.S. Highway 90
February 23, 2018

Dear Councilmen,

I, Ann Lathrop, am the other candidate for the vacant Bay‐Waveland School Board position. It
saddens me to see the upheaval choosing a school board member has brought to our
community. There are two highly qualified educators applying for the school board position. I
consider that a blessing for our community. I would like to express why I applied for the
position.

First and foremost, be assured I have no political agenda for wanting to serve on the school
board. I have said this previously, an educator has a servant’s heart, not a self‐serving one and
I’m quite sure Mrs. Thomas would agree. After serving our community in the Bay‐Waveland
School District for twenty‐seven plus years, I had to retire to help take care of my mother who
was diagnosed with leukemia. After many trips to MD Anderson, the Lord called her home in
February of 2015. I am so thankful that I had enough years in the retirement system to be able
to retire and care for her. Since then, my desire to continue serving my Tiger family has not
waned. I applied for a vacant school board position in 2015 and when that did not work out, I
signed up to be a substitute teacher. When the recent school board position became available,
I decided to try again.

I taught many children during my time at Bay High School, some may have been your children,
and I hope I served them well. Be assured, if appointed, my allegiance and decisions will always
be unbiased and based on what is in the best interest of ALL of our children.

I’d like to address some comments that were made at the February 20th City Council meeting:
 Mrs. Thomas mentioned the four panel interview committee. I, too, had the same four
panel interview committee and thought it wise for the mayor to have input from other
people. As the Curriculum and Testing Coordinator at Bay High, I was required to be on
a five person interview panel when decisions were being made about a new hire.
 Mrs. Thomas also said that the “regular and usual questions” were asked at first (e.g.,
vision for the school board, role as a school board member, how to measure success of
policies that have been put into place by the school board, etc.). Furthermore, Mrs.
Thomas felt as if she was being “interrogated” by the interview panel with questions
regarding nepotism in central office and an ethic’s ruling that was given to the school
board. I would like you to know, that I, too, was asked those questions along with
school safety questions. I never felt as if I were being interrogated by the panel. Rather,
the panel just wanted to know where I stood on those issues.

 Other comments were made about needing diversity on the school board. While I do
not disagree with diversity, those statements lead to the presumption that any other
candidate may not be fair or represent all students. If I have ever been known for
anything during my career, it would be fairness. It is my hope that whoever becomes a
school board member will always work for the best interest of ALL children regardless of
their economic, social or ethnic background.

Be assured, I feel very passionately about continuing to serve the students of our school district,
my Tiger family. We have always been a tightly‐knit community and I have never had an
intention of making this a divisive issue. I have prayed for all involved in this process and am at
peace with whatever decision is made.

Very Sincerely,

Ann Lathrop

Ann Lathrop
103 Harry Street Bay St. Louis, MS 39520
228 216‐1965
scoobysplash@gmail.com
______________________________________________________________________________

Education:
 Masters Degree—Biology University of Southern Mississippi 1994
 Bachelors Degree—Biology University of Southern Mississippi 1987

Employment:
2012‐2014 Bay High School Curriculum and Testing Coordinator
 Facilitated and coordinated all high school state testing
 Analyzed student data
 Offered in‐service workshops deemed useful by teachers, as well as test training
sessions
 Met and conferred with parents, as necessary
 Oversaw textbook ordering and inventory
 Served as the official liaison between Bay High School and the Bay‐Waveland District
Test Coordinator and Director of Curriculum
 Planned and managed in‐school tutoring sessions.

1987‐2012 Bay High School Teacher and Science Department Chair
 Taught Biology, Biology II, Anatomy and Physiology, College Environmental Science

2003‐2014 Pearl River Community College Adjunct Science Teacher
 Taught Anatomy and Physiology, Biology and Environmental Science

Awards:
 Inducted into the Mississippi Hall of Master Teachers
 Selected as STAR teacher four times (students select this honor)
 Bay High Teacher of the Year
 Bay‐Waveland School District Teacher of the Year

Ann Lathrop
103 Harry Street Bay St. Louis, MS 39520
228 216‐1965
scoobysplash@gmail.com
______________________________________________________________________________

School Service/Volunteer Experience:

Student Government Association Sponsor
Various Class Sponsor
Science Department Chair
Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) Review Chairperson
New Teacher Mentor
Annual Hancock County Animal Shelter Food Drive Volunteer
Hancock County Food Drive Volunteer
Volunteer softball coach for city league
Co‐Chair of Neighborhood Watch Program
Beach Clean Up Volunteer

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TO: City Council Members

FROM: Michael J. Favre, Mayor

DATE: Wednesday, February 28, 2018

REF: Recommendation of Appointee to School Board of Trustees

Michael J. Favre, Mayor

Michael J. Favre, Mayor

Michael J. Favre, Mayor

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