Monday, it was business as usual for the Poplarville School Board as they met for the last time this year.
First on the agenda was the approval of a contract with Coca-Cola, which is up for renewal every five years, Poplarville School District Finance Director Samantha Sandifer said.
“They are the ones that keep up our scoreboard and sometimes provide meals for the students,” she said.
Next, the board approved the 2016 Consolidated Federal Programs application.
Poplarville School District Federal Programs Director Konya Miller said the funds are distributed from kindergarten through the eighth grade.
“It’s based on the poverty level, and we allocate it based on the number of students at each school site,” Miller said.
Sandifer said there are also minimum requirements to be spent when it comes to the parent center, district office and professional development.
Another grant application on the table was the Title VI grant, which the district applies for every year, Miller said. The funds are used to hire a social worker who works with students in kindergarten through the eighth grade. The funds pay for 85 percent of the social worker’s salary.
The board also approved the 2015-2016 dropout prevention plan.
“As long as our graduation rate stays above 80 percent, then we can just keep reapplying the same plan we have in place,” Miller said. “At the last time it was checked, our rate was 84.8 percent. I’ve looked at the raw data for this year, and it’s staying about the same this year.”
This meeting also marked the last for board attorney Nance Fitzpatrick Stokes who will assume her duties as the Pearl River County Circuit Clerk in the new year.
The board voted to appoint Hattiesburg attorney Jim Keith as interim board attorney through June 30, which gives them time to advertise for the position.
The Poplarville School Board will meet again on Jan. 11 at 6 p.m. at the district’s office on Julia Street.