Following a unanimous vote by the Starkville-Oktibbeha Consolidated School District Board of Trustees, the state of Mississippi’s contribution to the Starkville/Mississippi State University Partnership School will soon be in district hands.
The board approved the memorandum of understanding between the district and the Mississippi Department of Finance and administration, allowing the $10 million in bond funds to enter the district’s hands. The funds will come in two $5 million payments, one in the current budget year and one in the next. The total cost of the school is $27.5 million, with a $12.5 million contribution from the district and a $5 million contribution from MSU. Once complete, it will house the district’s sixth and seventh graders and serve as a laboratory for the MSU College of Education. Bids for site work on the school will open at 2 p.m. on April 25.
The board also unanimously approved the issuance of refunding bonds from the district’s 2017 bond series in the amount of $2,215,000.
“What we’re doing is restructuring our debt, the debt being $2,215,000,” said Superintendent Lewis Holloway. “This debt has different interest rates, some as high as four and five percent, so we’ve pulled them all together into one bond unit and advertised them for bonds, so the interest rate drops from two percent down from 4.2 percent.”
Young Law Group Attorney Warren Greenlee explained that while the measure was not necessarily a saving mechanism for the district, it would level out the millage required to make the debt service payment.
“What that will allow us to do in connection with the other bonds in the district is sort of level out the overall debt service payments,” Greenlee said.
The board also unanimously approved the hire of Hinds Community College District Work Based Learning and Internship Coordinator Christy Maulding as the district’s new assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction, replacing Jody Woodrum, who has served in the position since 2012 and will leave along with Holloway on June 30.
Maulding holds a doctorate in education administration from MSU and served as a teacher and administrator in the Rankin County School District from 1994 to 2016.
"I am excited about returning to my roots as an elementary educator, and I look forward to the opportunity to become part of the SOCSD team and work alongside dedicated teachers and administrators who are committed to engaging their students in the learning process," Maulding said.