NATCHEZ — A long-time debate over whether the Natchez-Adams School Board’s members should be appointed or elected will be reprised Monday morning.

The Natchez Board of Aldermen and the Adams County Board of Supervisors will meet at 9 a.m. Monday at the Natchez Convention Center to discuss moving to an elected school board. The meeting is open to the public.

How best to select school board members has long been a source of debate locally. Currently, the Natchez-Adams School Board is made up of five appointed members. The city appoints three members; the county appoints two.

The matter has regained interest after Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant said in his state of the state address last week he prefers all Mississippi districts move to an elected school board.

School board members would then appoint a superintendent.

Natchez’s board appoints the district’s superintendent.

“There is a reason most of the nation has elected school boards and appointed superintendents — because it works,” Bryant said.

Supervisor Mike Lazarus said he would probably be in favor of the measure.

“I have my reservations, but with the situation we’re in right now it’s probably best,” Lazarus said. “I don’t think it’s a solution to our problems, but it might work better than what we have now.”

One reservation Lazarus has is whether good candidates will qualify for the elected positions.

“I always wonder who’s going to run for the school board, considering it doesn’t pay very well and it’s a very demanding job,” Lazarus said. “I hope people would step up and want to serve.”

Natchez Alderwoman Joyce Arceneaux Mathis said she is supportive of the change for a number of reasons.

The first reason, she said, is for the best possible education the district can provide.

“It has been nationally found through studies that it is better to have an elected school board and appointed superintendent,” Arceneaux-Mathis said.

The second reason is because she feels appointed school board members have too much power.

Lazarus said only an elected board would be fair to taxpayers of Natchez and Adams County.

“They have the right to raise taxes without the consent of the public,” Lazarus said. “There’s a threshold for how far, but when they send a tax increase over to the board of supervisors, we have to accept it. We can’t reject it.”

Arceneaux-Mathis said this much power should only be held by elected officials.

“Even though the board does not levee taxes, it has an effect on taxes citizens pay,” Arceneaux-Mathis said. “There’s taxation going on without representation. People are dissatisfied, and elected officials can’t do anything. If the board was elected, they would have to answer to the people, just like the board of supervisors and board of aldermen.”

Though Lazarus predicts his board would pass the measure, he said a unanimous agreement between the city and the county would be preferred.

“You have to send to the state Legislature and get our delegates to approve it,” Lazarus said. “Whenever something is unanimous between city and county like this, it doesn’t have a lot of problem passing. One or two people can throw a kink in it, and a lot of times it won’t pass. So I want to make sure we’re on the same page.”

County supervisors and city aldermen, along with members of the Natchez-Adams County Chamber of Commerce, board of Natchez Inc., and the Natchez Business and Civil League have all been invited to Monday’s meeting.

Arceneaux-Mathis said she expects the board of aldermen to be open to the discussion.

“In previous years, the board has been in favor,” she said. “We’re trying to make sure we bring people together in an organized fashion, and we’re trying to figure out exactly what way the city wants to go.”