Poplarville School Board President Violine Jordan recited the oath of office during Monday night’s meeting, entering another term as the appointed position by the Poplarville Board of Aldermen.
Pearl River County Circuit Clerk Nance Stokes officiated the ceremony.
The Poplarville School Board also honored three athletic groups from Poplarville High School for their historic achievements.
Poplarville Superintendent Carl Merritt and Poplarville High School Principal John Will honored the football team, cheerleading team, marching band and dance team for their successes during the fall.
“I am extremely proud,” Head Football Coach Jay Beech said. “We set a lot of goals this year and met all of them but one.”
Beech thanked the community and the parents for their support while the team won the South State Championship and competed at the state level for the first time in district history.
Will also honored the cheerleading team for their first state championship title.
Lastly, the Poplarville Green Machine marching band and dance team were honored for competing in the state competition for the first time in district history.
Will commended the students for their hard work and dedication.
The Board also distributed Teacher of the Year awards for each school as well as District Teacher of the Year.
At Poplarville Lower Elementary, music teacher Tori Patterson was awarded Teacher of the Year for the school. She was also chosen as District Teacher of the Year. She will now compete on the state level for Mississippi Teacher of the Year, Merritt said.
Poplarville Upper Elementary awarded Missy Barham as Teacher of the Year. Brooke Murray was honored by the Middle School of Poplarville and Erin Breland was awarded Teacher of the Year at Poplarville High School.
The Board dismissed the students in attendance before discussing routine matters.
Amendments were approved to the 2017 Preschool IDEA policy, a routine measure to keep up with regulations, Merritt said.
The Board also approved resignations for two members of the school faculty and approved to advertise for a new school resource officer.
Merritt said one employee was retiring and the other had another job offer “too good to refuse.”
The Board approved advertising for the sale of timber on 16th Section land, as well as another revision to Section D of the fiscal management policy.
Merritt said the district is slowly revising the policy during the school year. The Board has already approved revisions to Sections A, B and C, according to previous coverage.
Before adjourning, the Board approved financial reports and the consent agenda put forth by Finance Director Samantha Sandifer and Merritt.