A delegation from the 100 Black Men of Greater Mobile made a public appeal to Mobile County school leaders this week, asking Superintendent Roy Nichols to reconsider a plan that would end the organization’s long stewardship of the district’s alternative schooling program.
An appeal to the superintendent
The contingent, 15 to 20 members strong, addressed Nichols on Tuesday night, urging him to reverse course on his proposal to remove the alternative program from the group’s auspices. The 100 Black Men had operated the Phoenix Program for 13 years, mentoring and counseling students with disciplinary problems, mostly young men who had been suspended for fighting, drugs and similar reasons.
Several bids had been submitted to run the program, but Nichols said an internal management approach would be superior to any of the outside proposals. Under the superintendent’s plan, the school system would serve 330 students on a $1.8 million budget, compared with the roughly 200 students handled under Phoenix’s $700,000 program.
The money behind the plan
The larger figure was not entirely a break with the past. According to a source with knowledge of the details, the $1.8 million for the internal, substitute program included $200,000 for the 100 Black Men so that the organization could continue mentoring the youths. The plan also forgave more than $100,000 that the group still owed the school system for transportation.
The organization had drawn substantial public support over the years. The 100 Black Men of Greater Mobile received more than $4.5 million in public money between 2004 and 2008, according to its latest tax filings, and reported gross receipts of more than $1 million between October 2008 and September 2009.
The debate placed the superintendent and the civic group on opposite sides of a difficult question: whether an established community organization or the school system itself was better positioned to serve some of the district’s most challenging students. Nichols argued that bringing the program in-house would let the district serve more students, while the 100 Black Men contended that their 13 years of mentoring had built relationships and trust that an internal program could not simply replace.
A familiar face in the delegation
Among those in the group appealing to school officials was Herman Thomas, the former circuit judge who had recently fallen short in a bid to unseat state Sen. Vivian Figures. Thomas did not address school officials during the appeal.
Thomas had been tried the previous fall on charges that he coerced young inmates into allowing him to paddle them, allegations tied to accusations of misconduct during his time on the bench. He was acquitted of those charges.
His presence underscored the prominent civic role the 100 Black Men had long played in Mobile, and the organization’s argument that its work with at-risk students was woven into the fabric of the community. For the students in the Phoenix Program, many of them suspended and at risk of falling further behind, the outcome of the dispute carried real consequences.
Nichols’ proposal remained on the table as the appeal was made, leaving the future of the program, and of the partnership between the school system and the 100 Black Men, to be decided in the weeks ahead. The exchange offered residents a window into how the district weighed cost, capacity and community ties in deciding who would guide its most vulnerable pupils.