NATCHEZ &8212; Starting in January, the Natchez-Adams School District has a voice at the state level.

Local school board President Norris Edney was appointed last week to serve on the Mississippi School Boards Association Board of Directors.

&8220;It gives us a heads up on what&8217;s going on at the state level,&8221; Superintendent Anthony Morris said. &8220;It&8217;s always good to have somebody on your board that will have the opportunity to get access to information that will eventually filter down to us.&8221;

But Edney plans to do more than just listen at the quarterly board meetings.

&8220;I hope it will mean that this region will now have a chance to vent their concerns and get them heard in the right arena,&8221; he said. &8220;I hope it will help us tremendously. The concerns of this area can be taken to the main board directly.&8221;

The MSBA board is composed of three directors elected from each of the four Congressional Districts. MSBA writes policies that affect member school boards, works closely with those boards and lobbies lawmakers with board concerns.

Nominees to the board can be nominated by individual school board members or by superintendents.

They are then approved by the full board.

Morris nominated Edney.

&8220;I&8217;m extremely excited about it,&8221; Morris said. &8220;He&8217;s been repeatedly elected president here, and we are real pleased with the job he&8217;s doing here.&8221;

Edney has been president of the Natchez school board for three years, but served on it for several years before that.

He will continue his local duties while adding the regional ones. He said he plans to sit down with the chairman of other school boards in southwest Mississippi often to make lists of their concerns.

&8220;Sometimes when you become concerned with doing something, you want to finally get to a place where you can make a difference,&8221; he said. &8220;I can make a difference with the local school board in my situation, but I can&8217;t make a difference in the state, which affects our local school board.

&8220;In our district, all of us are going to feel we are more directly connected to that board.&8221;