East Mississippi Community College officials and the incoming leaders of the Starkville-Oktibbeha Consolidated School District have agreed in principle to a deal allowing the college to lease West Oktibbeha County High School and provide general classes in the county.
Starkville Superintendent Lewis Holloway, who will lead the consolidated system beginning July 1, confirmed EMCC officials agreed to pay for utilities and insurance while also providing upkeep and security at the Maben campus after Maben Mayor Larry Pruitt approached county supervisors Monday seeking a letter of support for such a takeover.
The lease is expected to run for five years, but an overall price is not yet known.
Both governing boards for EMCC and SSD must approve a finalized version of the deal.
If a deal is OK’d, EMCC is expected to offer general education testing and college-level classes at the soon-to-be-unused campus. As it stands, the SSD-Oktibbeha County School District merger plan calls for the closure of both county high schools.
A will lease allow SOCSD to pass off maintenance costs and upkeep responsibilities to the community college in turn for an EMCC presence in Oktibbeha County.
Negotiations, Holloway said in May, hit a snag when EMCC officials balked at paying for property insurance and any repairs that emerged in the future.
The yearly lease could be set as low as $1 since the land is not classified as 16th section and does not require minimum bids dictated by its appraised value.
“(EMCC officials) see it as a win-win for them. They get a building for almost nothing, and we get the protection of having somebody in the building and maintaining … the security and utilities of the building,” Holloway said in April when he first briefed school board members on the potential deal.
Before the board of supervisors unanimously approved a letter of support for the project, District 3 Supervisor Marvell Howard said the impact of EMCC’s satellite facility will be felt outside the borders of Oktibbeha County.
“After one of our meetings, we toured the building. The official from EMCC said it was set up and ready to go immediately,” he said. “I think it’ll help the EMCC board if they know we’re in support.”
Howard and Pruitt said they would attend EMCC’s next board meeting to show the county’s approval of the project.
Carl Smith covers Starkville and Oktibbeha County for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter @StarkDispatch
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