The organization that represents Starkville’s business community and a city school district stakeholder group launched a campaign Wednesday to educate county residents about the proposed $13.2 million-maximum Oktibbeha County School District bond in order to win over the hearts and minds of those who might oppose its issuance before an election is called.
The joint Greater Starkville Development Partnership-Parents for Public Schools Starkville initiative began after the GSDP’s board of directors unanimously passed resolutions supporting the educational effort, its associated publicity costs and a petition to remove signatures from the original issuance-blocking petition.
Organizers say they will collect names for the new petition until OCSD’s next board meeting, which is scheduled for noon Feb. 2 at the county education building.
A copy of the counter-petition is published, along with various consolidation fact sheets, on PPS Starkville’s website, PPSStarkville.org. The organization also published the petitions to the site as they were obtained Wednesday by The Dispatch.
OCSD Conservator Margie Pulley took no action last week on a Legislature-approved reverse referendum that would have given her power to issue bonds for the construction of a grades 6-7 demonstration school at Mississippi State University and the purchase of technology items – laptops and SMARTboards – for schoolchildren.
The issuance was at least delayed as petition organizers, led by former educator Aubrey Ray and supervisor candidate Denny Daniels, delivered about 2,000 signatures from residents demanding a vote on the matter.
Patrice Guilfoyle, Mississippi Department of Education’s communications director, confirmed legal counsel is still vetting and validating those signatures and could not say when the process should conclude.
If 1,526 qualified residents of OCSD’s territory – a figure previously cited by Oktibbeha County Circuit Clerk Glenn Hamilton – signed the petition, then an election must be held.
A bond referendum requires 60 percent of the vote. Historically, county residents have not supported significant debt issuances for school improvements.
PPS Starkville President Michelle Jones confirmed her organization is also combing through the petitions and attempting to vet signatories.
“The bottom line is that not many people understood this local funding is the only way to achieve (constructing a demonstration school) that all county school children will attend. Nobody in Oktibbeha County requested this (consolidation and a subsequent tax increase). The Legislature mandated it. We’re trying to make the best of the situation,” she said. “This partnership is for everyone, and it’s not just about our community, either. We have the opportunity to (improve rural education throughout Mississippi) for so many children.”
Some irregularities, she said, exist within the petitions. Finding those errors falls second to informing those county residents who want a referendum on the facts of consolidation and how the funding will be spent if debt is issued, Jones said.
“It’s very obvious that in some houses, some signed for themselves and others. I don’t think that requires a handwriting expert to determine that,” she said. “I’m afraid county residents weren’t told there was going to be an equalization of taxes (between both OCSD’s area and SSD’s territory) at the time of consolidation. We do want to stop the ‘us-and-them’ division, and equalization is part of that. I truly do not believe information was not disclosed about this.”
As petition organizers gathered last week to present the documents to OCSD, many said they were unaware of how Pulley wished to utilize the funding, despite various media outlets covering every Commission on Starkville Consolidated School District Structure – the study group created by the Legislature and charged with pitching successful merger ideas – and the group’s subsequent public forums on their recommendations to lawmakers.
Both Pulley and SSD Superintendent Lewis Holloway served on the committee, and each school district promoted the meetings and their conclusions throughout the process before sending requests to lawmakers last year.
Senate Bill 2818, the Legislature’s answer to those requests, authorized Pulley to execute increase OCSD’s bonding capacity to its 3-mill limit – she did last year – for campus improvements and tasked her with issuing a reverse referendum for construction costs.
“(Last year’s bill) dictated my actions as conservator regarding the bond issue. I followed the mandate of the Legislature,” she said last week in reference to petitioners’ concerns. “(The need for construction and local funding sources were both) discussed in our commission meetings. We were above board, open and transparent. There were no hidden agendas, and I followed the letter of the law.”
“Dr. Pulley has done what she’s been required to by law and what’s right for the children of Oktibbeha County,” added Holloway.
The importance of local funding for July’s state-mandated consolidation became even more apparent last week when MSU unveiled its tentative plans for the demonstration school.
MSU will donate $5 million and almost 43 acres of land for its construction. The plan still requires the $10 million from OCSD’s bond issuance and a $10 million funding stream from the Legislature.
If constructed, all grades 6-7 students within Oktibbeha County will attend the estimated 102,000-square-foot facility; if not, the numerous campuses within the Starkville-Oktibbeha Consolidated School District could experience higher student-teacher ratios since two OCSD campuses will close after the districts merge.
“The Partnership board feels that the community is truly at a turning point right now. We absolutely view education and quality public schools as our main priority in achieving our strategic goals at the Partnership, which includes increasing the city’s and county’s quality of life and recruiting industry, tourists and re-locating professionals and retirees,” said GSDP CEO Jennifer Gregory. “I’m very proud that the board voted not only to continue to make that top priority known, but also to stand firm on this side of the issue. Our board is letting (other business leaders) and the entire community know that this (local funding source) is critical to the success of consolidation, and a successful consolidation itself is in the best interest of the entire community.”
Carl Smith covers Starkville and Oktibbeha County for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter @StarkDispatch
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