Poplarville School District deals with flooding, policy changes
Published 7:00 am Wednesday, May 15, 2019
- From left, Poplarville School District Board of Trustees Lisa Graves and Jill Smith watch as Poplarville High School students were recognized for their many achievements.
The Middle School of Poplarville experienced some flooding in classrooms and hallways Sunday after Saturday’s storm, said Superintendent Carl Merritt during Monday’s Poplarville School District Board of Trustees meeting, held in the Poplarville High School library.
Water made it into the building through two doors, Merritt said. The damage is still being assessed, Transportation Director Rossie Creel said.
There were road issues across the District, Meritt said, which caused changes to some bus routes and staff to reach out to families affected by those changes. Creel said, Martin Luther King Road was closed on Monday because the roadbed failed, leaving a void beneath the road. A District wide robo call was placed Monday morning to alert families to road closures, Creel said.
In a separate matter, the Board approved renewing an ongoing agreement to supply buses to the Pearl River County Hospital and Nursing Home in the event of an emergency.
The Board also approved changing how the District handles making copies and printing. Instead of purchasing new machines, the District will pay a cost-per-image for copying and printing services. This new plan should reduce the workload for the technology department, which will no longer be responsible for maintenance of printers and copy machines. The previous copy service agreement was renewed for the next 3 months.
In other business, the Board:
— Was advised that the Middle School of Poplarville finished state testing last week.
— Revised the 2019-2020 Poplarville High School handbook to remove the advanced world geography course from advanced electives and changed the criteria to be an honors or high honors graduate. For high honors, students will need a 95 or better overall average, while honors requires a 90-94.99 overall average.
— Approved contracts for psychological services, physical therapy services and occupational therapy services for the 2019-2020 school year.
— Approved the Summer Feeding Program. The District has participated in the program, which provides free meals to children during the summer, for the last 19 years, according to previous coverage.