At its Monday meeting, the Oktibbeha County Board of Supervisors discussed a deal which could see the Starkville-Oktibbeha Consolidated School District in a new headquarters on Lynn Lane.
The board did not take any action on the deal, but discussed in detail what it would entail, including the former Mississippi State Department of Health building on Lynn Lane. Other buildings would also be shifted, including district special education offices leaving the County Education Building. Control of the East School and the former East and West Oktibbeha High Schools would go to the county. Child nutrition would also move from Henderson Ward Stewart Elementary into the Greensboro Center.
County offices could also move into the former district spaces.
Board President Orlando Trainer said he expected the deal to take more time, due to the many moving parts involved.
The former health department building is currently owned by CMMG Enterprises.
“We’ve got to have more discussion to kind of talk about it,” Trainer said. “Hopefully, we’ll have something ready in a few weeks."
Trainer said the board planned to examine the deal one piece at a time to make sure everyone involved is content with all the pieces.
Trainer also said, as part of the agreement, the district had said its maintenance personnel would perform certain repairs and updates on the three school buildings before they go into county hands, including roofing work on the East Oktibbeha High School.
Superintendent Eddie Peasant echoed Trainer’s comments on the complexity of the deal.
“We’re still working on an agreement with the Board of Supervisors on the East and West High Schools involving some repairs on these buildings, and once that is complete, we would hope to work with the Board of Supervisors on acquiring that building,” Peasant said.
Peasant did not give a timeframe on the deal, but said the district was waiting for all parties involved to be satisfied with the terms.
District 4 Supervisor Bricklee Miller expressed some concern over the terms of the deal, particularly the condition of the former East Oktibbeha High School.
“Why would we buy them a Lexus and them give us a Volkswagen,” Miller said.
Miller also said she was not sure why the county was involved in the deal to begin with.
In response to the concerns, Trainer said it was one of the supervisors’ responsibilities to facilitate arrangements, which could benefit the county and its citizens.