NORTH CARROLLTON — Having the state send in a financial adviser was the best thing that could have happened to the Carroll County School District, School Board President Laura Davis said Thursday.
The Mississippi Department of Education sent Bo Surrell, business manager for the Grenada School District, to work with the district on finances, and he told the board they had no choice but to ask for a tax increase. They asked for an increase of 4 percent — the maximum allowed without county officials’ approval.
“Sometimes good things come out of bad,” Davis said at Thursday’s meeting. “We were taking from Peter to pay Paul. That was a mistake. They came in and worked with our district and said, ‘You must do A, B, and C.’ We did everything, and we got a clean bill of health from our state audit.”
The board also heard the district’s curriculum director, Rana Mitchell, discuss performance on state tests by the district and by each school. The district moved from a D rating to a C overall.
Mitchell said bright spots were in math and science.
“There were some success stories and some places that need improvement. We did a good job growing math,” she said.
She said Marshall Elementary narrowly missed being named a C school but is allowed to call itself C because of the state is moving to a new method of ranking.
J.Z. George Middle School rose from 68.4 to 69.1 percent, which gets a C. At J.Z. George High School, math scores rose to 80 percent from the 70s, making the school 27th highest of all schools in the state in growth in math.
“Our students outdid themselves in math and science,” Mitchell said.
In other business, the board:
• Listened to a proposal by Verizon to place a cellphone tower in a rural area of Beat 2. Mimi Alldread, business manager, presented an approved contract from the Secretary of State’s office. The board agreed to go into negotiations with Verizon to lease the land needed for the tower.
Verizon would pay $500 per month, plus, 12.7 percent of sales that come through that tower, Alldread said.
Daniel Vest made the motion to begin negotiations, and the board voted unanimously for the motion.
• Introduced the newest board member, Beat 5’s Stella Washington-Bell of Vaiden. She will take office in January.
• Discussed a report by Liberty Mutual Insurance Company of repair needs in the district that could cause liability issues. Joey Carpenter, principal at George High School, said he has staff members working to repair issues in the gym and field bleachers. Marshall Elementary Principal Philip Harges said he is in the process of getting barriers put up around swings too close to the parking lot and plans to apply for grants to update play equipment. Miller suggested that he ask the school’s parent teacher group for help with the play equipment.
• Agreed to release a student whose family presented medical documentation for special education services.
“If we don’t have facilities to take care of her, then we should release her,” Kenneth DeLoach said.
He asked where the student had been attending school, and Superintendent of Education Billy Joe Ferguson told him she had gone to a special school in Clinton, and they recommended sending her to Grenada Public Schools. The district will pay $900 to Grenada, Ferguson said. The money will come from federal funds for special education.
