[3/5/03]Three seats on the board of trustees for All Saints’ Episcopal School will be open to parents or alumni for the first time in the school’s 95-year history.

“This will give the board a clearer channel and direct access to groups that have proven to be helpful and vital in keeping the school alive,” rector and head of school the Rev. Bill Martin said. “This gives a direct line to key constituent groups that have not been represented on the board directly.”

The board of trustees, now composed of 18 representatives from clergy and lay people of Arkansas, Mississippi, Louisiana and west Louisiana dioceses, will select the new board members from the parents’ organization formed after the school announced in late January it was closing. Citing a lack of funds, school officials said the day and boarding school on Confederate Avenue would shut down in May.

The school won a reprieve of at least a year on Feb. 19 when board members voted to allow parents and alumni to help raise $750,000 and increase enrollment from the current 83 day and boarding students to 90.

Martin said the board’s decision came in response to an outpouring of support from the parents.

Martin said though the board has not defined a procedure for selecting new members, he will work with the organization leaders to ensure their insights are incorporated.

Talk at Saturday’s parents’ meeting was about recruiting more students and raising money for the school.

Parents from across the South are planning to host meetings in their homes to spread information about All Saints’ to their communities and recruit more students. Recruitment meetings have been tentatively scheduled in Tupelo, Greenville, Little Rock, Houston and Atlanta, said Robin Carter of Ridgeland, a member of the parents’ organization who has a son in the school.

Martin said the meetings will help school officials reach prospective students and are an effective recruitment tool.

Board chairman Bishop Larry Maze will attend a recruitment meeting Monday at the St. Margaret’s Episcopal Church in Little Rock, a move Carter said demonstrates the board’s support.

“The board is going to be very visible,” Carter said. “They’re going to be really supportive of our endeavors.”