When you hire somebody to mow your grass, you don’t stop him halfway through and tell him to use a different brand of mower. That choice is up to the person you hired to do the job. You get to judge him by the results.

That said, trustees of the Vicksburg Warren School District were guilty of micromanaging at their May 31 meeting when they denied the superintendent, Dr. Elizabeth Swinford, her choices to fill the positions of assistant superintendent for operations and transportation manager, both of whom report directly to her.

Just 57 days from today, school buses will roll throughout the 618.76 square miles of Warren County. School buildings will need to be cleaned, stocked, floors waxed and desks ready for the 8,500 or so students who’ll walk in to begin another year of studies.

Yes, classes just ended for summer vacation, but administrators are still on the job in June and July. Now, presumably, those two jobs will remain unfilled at least until trustees meet again June 28 — 39 days before school starts.

Swinford’s job is to run the district. Mississippi School Boards Association guidelines call for local school boards to set policy and goals and hold the superintendent accountable for meeting those objectives.

Of the board’s members, District 4 Trustee Joe Loviza gave the only clue to the board’s thinking when he objected that she has not informed them enough about who is applying for which jobs and who is being interviewed.

Swinford countered that she followed the hiring policies set by the board and that the positions were advertised as required and posted on the district’s website — accessible by board members.

They also may walk into Swinford’s office at any time and ask her directly.

While not suggesting that trustees simply rubber-stamp any proposal Swinford puts on the agenda, in 2011-12 they entrusted her to manage a nearly $83 million budget and 1,278 employees.

As with the lawn tender, let her do the job. Trustees then may judge her on the results.