I am writing to express my outrage and dismay at the actions of the Vicksburg Warren School District Board of Trustees in the recent “dismissal” of the high school choir accompanist, Joan Henderson-Leese (also my mother and my respected musical colleague).

As a Vicksburg native and graduate of Vicksburg High School, I feel it my duty to speak out. First, it is my understanding that she was “fired” due to her lack of a degree. Mrs. Leese, in her years of teaching piano, trained some of the finest pianists that have ever been produced in Mississippi, and has more than 50 years of experience as a piano accompanist and church organist, without a degree.

A degree does not guarantee excellence, commitment or character; and in music, it does not guarantee talent or performance. Her experience and dedication to the Vicksburg High School choral program should speak for itself. The very worst aspect of this event is the way in which she was told — actually not told — that she did not have a job.

She began this school year as any other (since hired on October 31, 2001), working from the beginning of school on Aug. 6, through Sept. 6, when she called her bank (as was her habit) to be sure that her check had been deposited. When she discovered it had not, she called payroll and was told, “you have been deleted from our system.”

She then went to personnel, and was told that she had not been re-hired this school year because of lack of funds. Other conversations revealed that her removal as accompanist was because she had no college degree. She does a job that very few people have the skills to do. I am extremely disappointed in the way that it was handled (or more accurately, not handled).

Mrs. Leese was not told by anyone that she had no job. She found out from calling her bank. If there was a board meeting where this item was discussed, she should have been informed.

Laurie Henderson Thompson

Warren, Ohio