With municipal elections fast approaching, the SDN caught up with the three mayoral candidates, Johnny Moore, Damion Poe and Lynn Spruill to discuss education in Starkville, including the city’s relationship with the Starkville-Oktibbeha Consolidated School District.
Spruill said while the district and the city were separate entities, it would be important for her to stay in contact with the superintendent. She added the relationship would be especially important when the time came for the aldermen to fill one of the city’s three school board seats, a vote which was decided by sitting Starkville Mayor Parker Wiseman the last time a school board member was appointed.
“As part of that, we want to have a close relationship with them,” Spruill said.
Poe also expressed a desire to stay in close contact with the superintendent and other district administrators.
“I will make myself available to them, making sure that we are working for the greater good of our youth in Starkville,” Poe said.
Moore said keeping a good relationship with the district would be important in his administration.
“I think it’s important to work with the school administrators and the new superintendent, so we can get a good handle on the school system since consolidation, so we can work with the funding and work with the teachers to get our children educated, and get them prepared for a four-year degree at a university, if that’s what they choose to do, or get them prepared to go to a place like East Mississippi Community College for technical training for, hopefully, job opportunities that the city will provide in manufacturing in the near future,” Moore said, referencing the planned Starkville Industrial Park.
Spruill also referred to the industrial park, saying that a strong educational system is one of the things corporations look at when considering a community to operate in.
Spruill also voiced support of sharing city facilities with the district and possibly collaborating on sports tournaments bringing regional teams to Starkville.
“There are numerous ways that we can partner, not just on education, but for healthy living opportunities dealing with athletics and sports,” Spruill said.
All three candidates voiced support of the ongoing Starkville/MSU Partnership School project.
“It’s definitely going to be a positive thing for the community,” Poe said.
All three candidates also agreed on the importance of education to the Starkville Community.
“We’ve got to get our children educated,” Moore said. “It’s the foundation we build everything on, whether it’s retail development, whether it’s industrial development, whether it’s training teachers where we can have educators for the future to teach our upcoming children and grandchildren. It’s just a necessity we’ve got to have to stay a viable community.”