School board meets for first October session
On Tuesday evening, the Starkville Oktibbeha School District Board met for their very first meeting of October. There were no citizen comments, so the Board was able to proceed swiftly with business.
One of the items approved in the new business portion of the agenda is the location of Starkville High School’s 2022 prom. It will officially be held at The Mill on Russell Street.
Following the approval of the location of prom, new job descriptions were approved including the description for campus enforcement officers. The description was updated to accommodate two previous school safety officers who completed extra training to allow them to do their jobs better. The two individuals underwent 40 hours of training in Columbus.
“This is the next step in their careers,” Superintendent Dr. Eddie Peasant said. “The officers are not official police officers or [school resource officers], but they are a step up from school safety officers.”
Nearly all other new business was approved with the exception of one policy. Policy DJEG covers purchase orders and contracts for the SOSD. According to Dr. Debra Prince, the proposed amendments and current policy do not read as a policy should.
“How it is written now is not a policy. It’s written as rules and regulations. It says, ‘The purchasing process could work as follows,’ and that’s not a policy,” Dr. Prince said. “We need a definite policy. This is our policy for purchasing and requisition, and I think it needs to be reworded in such a way that this is our policy. You get requisition, then you get
the purchase order and so on. All this says is what you could do or what could be done. It is not specific. It should say, ‘The policy of Starkville Oktibbeha School district is blank.’ It needs to be specific as to what we use and don’t use according to the law.”
The original motion to blanket approve amendments to 10 different policies was rescinded and changed to approve all other nine policies and correct Policy DJEG.
After the new business was dealt with, Dr. Peasant gave his report which included an update on the air conditioning in the Starkville High School gymnasium, a celebration for the class of 1971, an update on next school year’s calendar and the Covid numbers within the district.
The A/C has been out in the SHS gym for a few weeks now, and while it is beginning to get cooler, that has not helped the classes within the gym. The part that is not working has been ordered, but it will still be over 30 days before the part gets in and can be replaced.
On October 22, the class of 1971 will celebrate the 50th anniversary of integration at SHS. There will be a special presentation in the SHS gym at 5 p.m. As of right now, the projected high for that Friday is 71 degrees and mostly cloudy, so the gym shouldn’t be too hot. From there, the honorees will move to the football field to enjoy the penultimate home game of the regular season for SHS, and they will be recognized at the game.
The school calendar for the 20222023 year is in the works and should be ready for the next regular meeting of the board. This will be November 9 at 6 p.m.
Finally, there are a total of five Covid cases across the entire district. There are 30 students currently quarantined, and there are zero cases among faculty and staff.
To see all of the amended policies that were approved, visit https://oagendas.com/meeting/quickview/22527 and search for item “J” under “New Business.”