School board members relaxed the dress code just a bit Tuesday night for students in the Starkville School District.
Much of the board meeting was spent discussing what to do with the remaining $3.6 million in bond issue money. Lee Brand was absent, but all other board members were present for the meeting, Beth Sewell”s first as interim superintendent.
The board amended the dress code to allow students to wear all allowed shirt colors at each of the district”s schools. Previously, each school allowed only certain colors. Next year, students in K-12 can wear black, gray, white and yellow/gold collared shirts.
Board members also amended the dress code to allow black or khaki denim in grades K-12. Previously, this was allowed just in grades K-5.
The board did not spend any of the remaining bond issue money Tuesday night, but they heard plans for what they can do with it. When the board first started looking at the highest priority capital projects that remain in the district, they identified toilets in bad need of repair, a field house for the high school and air conditioning in the gymnasiums.
The board already accepted bids for the paving and toilet work, and these came in at $1.6 million. If this work is awarded, that leaves $1.9 million of bond money that must be spent in the next few months.
The board began advertising Tuesday for the field house construction and air conditioning of the Starkville High, Armstrong Middle School and Henderson gymnasiums. School district architect Shelton Jones presented final drawings for the proposed field house for athletics.
Last May, Jones estimated the field house”s construction cost at $1.5 million. Athletic director Stan Miller reported to the board his efforts at fundraising for the facility. He said he has about $300,000 in money pledged from corporate sponsors.
Jones also spoke to the board about the condition of the high school football field. He said it needs either new turf or work to re-crown the surface. New turf would cost an estimated $650,000 and last 12-15 years. Regrowing would cost about $224,000 and have to be done every four years.
On Eddie Myles motion and Keith Coble”s second, the board voted to advertise for bids for both projects. This will let them to see how much all the remaining district projects will cost, allowing them to make decisions on what to spend money on and where the money should come from.
The board took no action on a search for a new superintendent.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 41 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.