Two School Resource Officers Hired; Policies Debated; LIS Cafeteria to Close

Courtsey of WRBE, "Your Hometwon Radio"
During the George County Board of Education meeting on Tuesday night, two consultants for the Mississippi Department of Education reported to the board that even though the George County School District had some concerns in the special education department in order to meet the Mattie T. Consent Decree, the district was well on its way to be in compliance before the 2010 deadline.
A 1979 investigation showed that the state of Mississippi did not properly identify and educate special needs children; but since that time the Mississippi Department of Education has been working with all school districts in the state to meet the requirements set by the Mattie T Consent Decree, which ensures that special needs children are given the best education possible.
The hiring of two School Resource officers, Al Hillman and Jason Smith, for the 2007-08 school year were approved by the board on Tuesday night, along with the first consideration approval of the policy and guidelines the officers will use in performance of their duties. These new officers and new policies will place a well-trained, certified police officer in the George County Middle School and one in the George County High School. Chief Security Officer Ben Brown will continue with his duties at the elementary schools, overseeing the new officers and continuing to operate and maintain the school security cameras and other security systems.
The school officials also approved to purchase and detail three patrol cars at a total cost of $10,900, which will include a car for each of the resource officers plus a car for Brown.
Several policies were on the evening's agenda, including the high school test exemption policy, which was passed with a 4/1 vote, with Larry McDonald voting against the new policy. McDonald said he was against the lower grade exemption, even though the students met the attendance and “no discipline” requirements. McDonald made a motion to change back to the original policy but the motion died due to no second.
Changes in the Drug Testing Policy were also approved by the board, though some final procedures and who will conduct the testing are still to be worked out.
All students who participate in extracurricular activities are subject to random drug testing with mandatory re-testing for anyone found to test “positive.” For the first offense, parents will be notified, the student must enroll in counseling until dismissed by counselor and one week's suspension from extracurricular activities; second offense students will be suspend from extracurricular activities for 25 school days; and third offenders will be removed from extracurricular activities for one calendar year.
The no tolerance cell phone policy was debated by the board members, passing with a 3/2 vote. All the board members agreed that students should not have cell phones during school hours but Larry McDonald debated that students should be able to have the phones during after school practices to call parents. Wendell Fallon agreed.
The board voted to close the cafeteria at Lucedale Intermediate School for cooking and preparing food, though the students would still be served meals in the cafeteria. Food Services Director Debbie Tillman explained that the food preparations would be made at Lucedale Elementary and with the use of specialized equipment, the food could be taken to Lucedale Intermediate, placed on the steam tables and served, just as the procedures are now. Tillman said the students will not know the difference, they would still be served the same hot, healthy meals as at the other schools.
Superintendent of Education Donnie Howell told the board that the entire kitchen area would have to be renovated and the expense was too great for consideration. He and Tillman both, reassured the board that the newly purchased equipment would allow students at both LES and LIS to be served the same hot, healthy meals as the other schools in the district with no scheduling upsets.
Several bills were approved for payment, including the final payment of $27,660 to D&D Construction for the work at Agricola Elementary and payment of $22,495 to Scott Company for siding work at the Lucedale Intermediate Gymnasium.
Maintenance approvals included the SPED Building air conditioning at $1,860; Central Elementary Gym at $2,122 and storage building at Agricola for $2,000.
To advertise for BIDs to rubberize the George County High School Track was also approved.
A work session with George Regional Hospital to discuss the hospital expansion was set for June 19 at 7 p.m.