By: CA Staff Writer | October 6, 2025
Clarksdale, Mississippi– On September 8, 2025, Will Smith formed a single-member LLC called Strategic Leadership. Days later, on September 26, 2025, according to an email shared with the Clarksdale Advocate, Will Smith drafted a detailed press release suspending Dr. Virginia Young and appointing Dr. Debra Dace as interim superintendent.
After failing to garner support for this idea from the majority of the board, an event dubbed the “Monday Night Massacre” occurred. On Monday, October 27th, board members Margarett Walker and Coreen Richardson called an emergency meeting with only two items on the agenda: Superintendent Dr. Virginia Young and Attorney Derek Hopson. The series of events that unfolded afterward are alleged to not only violated Robert’s Rules of Order but also Mississippi state law and CCSD board policy.
With Board President Johnny Moore absent and Consultant Will Smith present during the executive session, providing what has been characterized as legal advice to the duo, the “Monday Night Massacre” began to unfold. The first item was to suspend Dr. Young pending an investigation. However, this item was not on the agenda, shocking both Board Member Gerald Johnson and Attorney Derek Hopson, according to our sources.
After Board Members Johnson and Rachel Fowler-Holmes blocked the suspension, the board voted to accept Dr. Young’s FMLA request. Board Member Johnson left the meeting visibly upset because he felt blindsided by the actions of Walker and Richardson, according to our sources.
Next, rather than turning district operations over to Assistant Superintendent Crystal Gooden, as would have been consistent with the district’s organizational chart, Walker and Richardson, advised by Smith, began to implement Smith’s plan from his September 26th email. The duo appointed Dr. Debra Dace as interim superintendent.
At the time of the appointment, Dace was a realtor, having been terminated by the Greenville Municipal School District by a unanimous vote of the board at the end of the 2021-2022 academic year. According to state records, the Greenville Municipal School District was rated a “D” at the time of Dace’s departure. The board also voted at this meeting to fire Attorney Derek Hopson, who opposed the trio’s efforts to oust Dr. Young and appoint Dr. Dace.
Approximately 12 hours later, at 8 AM on Tuesday, October 28th, Dr. Dace was on the grounds of the Coahoma County School District, huddled in an office with Will Smith, Coreen Richardson, and at least one other person. According to sources, without board approval and without the knowledge of Board President Johnny Moore, Dace entered into what CCSD characterizes as a “$120,000 illegal contract” to serve as interim superintendent, signed by Coreen Richardson and Margaret Walker.
Smith, Dace, Walker, and Richardson, through their professional experience, all know or should have known that all contracts must be signed by the school board president. Furthermore, the board voted 2 to 1 to hire Debra Dace as interim superintendent, an item that was not on the agenda of the special call meeting. The board members present never discussed or approved any contract terms, and the contract terms was also not on the agenda. The agenda for a special call meeting cannot be amended.
These actions have left CCSD officials perplexed about how the contract terms were developed and who supplied the executed contract, as it was not a CCSD contract. Rushing to execute the contract without the signature of the board president would trigger liability on Richardson’s and Walker’s fiduciary bond. However, the attorneys we have spoken with believe that the coordination and intentionality of these actions will be subject to heavy scrutiny.
In a second special call meeting on Thursday, October 30, 2025, the CCSD board voted to terminate the contracts of Debra Dace and Will Smith’s firm, Strategic Leadership, LLC. The board also reinstated Derek Hopson as board attorney and placed Crystal Gooden in charge of District Operations.
Following the meeting, Smith posted a late-night Facebook post that included a photo of his attorney, who represented him in a lawsuit against the West Bolivar County Consolidated School District. The caption read, “My go-to attorney… Ken Adcock. Tameki Smith and Porcher L. Smith, you all know me too well. Can’t let this one go. Stay tuned.”
Dr. Dace shared the post with a caption that read, “On it… and I’m right there with you.”
These posts seem to imply that Smith and Dace intend to sue CCSD for overturning actions that the school board has characterized as “illegal.” Both Smith and Dace were involved in the planning, coordination, and execution of the actions that were overturned.
Sources familiar with the matter have informed The Clarksdale Advocate that a criminal referral is likely.
Photo and Info Credit: FB, MDOE
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