Poplarville School District prepares for fall
Published 7:00 am Thursday, June 11, 2020
- Board member Jill Smith listens as Superintendent Konya Miller answers questions from the Poplarville School Board at their regular meeting Monday. The Board approved temporarily suspending some policies due to COVID-19. Photo by Cathy Cook.
The Poplarville School District has two committees that include parents, teachers and administrators, focused on how to adjust schooling due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
One team is focused on a re-entry plan for the fall semester, while another team is focused on how to manage academics as it would relate to distance learning, Superintendent Konya Miller told the Poplarville School Board at Monday’s regular meeting.
The Board approved revisions to the district’s policy to reflect that the district is prepared to provide distance learning if necessary.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Board also approved temporarily suspending district policies that would require Board members to visit schools and those that allow school facilities to be rented, as well as a policy that allows for use of the school property in general. The district plans to suspend the policies until holding public events in the school buildings no longer requires additional cleanup and no longer create a potential public health risk, said Miller.
In a separate matter, the Board approved the annual security contract with the city of Poplarville. The city provides additional officers for events, like football games, at a rate of $25 per hour plus benefits. There are 88 total events where officers might be needed. The school resource officer will complete many of the duties, said Miller, but when he cannot be there the city will provide services. At football games, typically more than one officer is needed, said Miller. In the last school year, county law enforcement was relied on as well, she said.
In a separate matter, the Board approved the web-based reading and mathematics assessment and instructional program for the 2020-2021 school year for $50,000 from Curriculum Associates. The district uses the computer-based system to provide individual diagnostic assessments and learning, said Miller.
In other business the Board:
—Approved the quarterly seclusion and restraint report, which had no incidents.
—Updated band, choir and coach job descriptions to include information about employee responsibilities in the event of distance learning.
