The Starkville School District Board of Directors approved one transfer request and denied another Tuesday.
The meeting was the second time the board has discussed transfers relating to the recent troubles in the Oktibbeha County School District, which is now under state control. A request from Oktibbeha County Board of Supervisors President Orlando Trainer to transfer his children from the OCSD to the SSD was tabled at the SSD board’s last meeting in November.
Tuesday, Trainer’s request was granted by unanimous vote, while a request from another parent was denied. The denial came with no opposing votes, but Lee Brand did abstain.
Trainer’s transfer request was approved because he has been hired as a bus driver for the SSD. His hiring was approved just before the transfer discussion. SSD Board President Keith Koble said it has been a long-standing tradition to allow employees of the district to enroll their children, even if they live in another district.
“It got a little complicated in his particular case,” Koble said. “The request changed to an employee asking rather than just another parent.”
The board and the rest of the SSD is sympathetic to OCSD’s plight, Koble said, but he added that the multi-faceted transfer issue leaves the SSD’s “hands tied” in areas that go beyond funding or classroom space.
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