Miss. School Drops Race-Based Elections

Following a media uproar over a 30-year-old policy, the Nettleton School District on Friday ended a system of student elections where race determined whether or not one could run for certain student body positions. “It is the belief of the current administration that these procedures were implemented to help ensure minority representation and involvement in the student body,” said Superintendent Russell Taylor in a statement. “It is our hope and desire that these practices and procedures are no longer needed. Therefore, beginning immediately, student elections at Nettleton School District will no longer have a classification of ethnicity.” The catalyst for the change was Brandy Springer, a mother of four mixed-race children in Nettleton who lashed out at the school board when her 12-year-old daughter couldn’t run for class reporter because she didn’t fit the racial requirements. Springer then contacted several advocacy groups, including those for mixed-race families and the NAACP, called for a Justice Department investigation, and has since moved her family to nearby Plantersville, Mississippi.