Among other information, the Starkville-Oktibbeha Consolidated School District Board of Trustees got a glimpse of the latest Partnership School cost figure.
The board held a long work session Tuesday morning, hearing updates from several district departments. The board also held a brief special called meeting during the period, approving the lowest bid from Gregory Paving to pave the West Elementary parking lot.
Bruce Wood of JH&H Architects gave an update on the Partnership School’s cost, saying it was now at $31,718,000. He said unlike previous figures, the new figure includes furniture and other fittings for the school. He also gave Aug. 29, 2019 as the projected completion date for the Partnership School.
He then said the Mississippi Department of Transportation was mandating that the J-Turn leading into the site be lined up differently, which will cost the project more. He also said a change order with West Brothers Construction, the project contractor, had also raised the price. Currently, the district has approximately $28 million budgeted for the project, including $10 million in bonds from the state of Mississippi, $5 million plus for the school site from Mississippi State University and $16 million in general obligation bonds from the district. Of the $16 million, $12.5 is specifically set aside for the Partnership School.
“If you compare that to the expenditures that Mr. Wood went over, you will see that we have a deficit of $3,669,937,” said Chief Financial Officer Tammie McGarr. “Of course, there are different avenues that we can use to pay for that deficit.”
McGarr said the district had $10,250,000 in its general fund balance that could be used for the project if needed.
The board also heard updates from the district’s math and English/language arts interventionists, transportation director and director of accountability, accreditation and assessment.
Additionally, the board received an update on grants and current efforts to revamp libraries in district schools.
"It’s an opportunity for us to go into a lot more depth into some programs, things that we’re putting in place for student achievement and then also, just to inform the board in a little more depth on some other things that are going on in our district,” said Superintendent Eddie Peasant.
The board discussed some of the challenges the district faced, including an achievement gap between African-American and other students in the district. School Board member Keith Coble emphasized the degree of challenge the district faced.
“This is a tough conversation that we’re having right now, but a unique and a difficult part of this school district is that we will have some children that come from the most educationally gifted enhanced homes in Mississippi, and we’ve got some children who have as many disadvantages as children in Ruralville, Mississippi,” Coble said.
Board Secretary Debra Prince, who has long emphasized the need to close the achievement gap, further discussed the difficulty, saying educators nationwide have spent almost half a century trying to close it.
The board also discussed home visits from administrators, teachers and social workers as a possible step to help close the gap in the district.“