Toriano Holloway, Starkville-Oktibbeha Consolidated School District’s assistant superintendent for federal programs and operations, will remain with the district after the Hattiesburg school board passed over hiring him as the district’s next superintendent Tuesday.
Holloway, who has served in his current capacity since 2012, was named one of three finalists for the Hattiesburg Public School District’s leadership position earlier this month and participated in final interviews with the public, school district stakeholders and school board leaders.
The district announced Wednesday that trustees selected Biloxi Public Schools Assistant Superintendent Janice Johnson to lead the system.
“I’m looking forward to making sure that our students, parents, teachers and administration have all the resources they need to be successful,” Holloway said.
Road and school plans
Holloway worked with City Engineer Edward Kemp to develop a street striping plan that will help Overstreet School redefine how public roadways are used for student drop-offs and pick-ups as the campus transitions into a fifth grade school for the 2016-2017 academic year.
Aldermen approved a plan to turn the Jackson Street carpool area into a bus loading and unloading zone and utilize Green Street for parents picking up and dropping off their children.
A school resource officer will work the intersection of Jackson and Green streets during mornings and afternoons to ease traffic congestion.
The board’s motion also authorizes a traffic study for the Jackson-Green and Montgomery-Green streets intersections after the first two months of the school year.
Kemp said a potential exists for buses to queue along Jackson Street during peak usage times, but the thoroughfare “is capable of handling that, as it has a center turn lane, a dedicated bike lane and plenty of room for people to go around buses if they stack up.”
City workers will stripe Green Street, providing separate turning lanes accessing both Jackson and Montgomery streets. On-street parking spots will also be marked.
The infrastructure improvements and changes to traffic flow in the area mark two of many efforts SOCSD is tending to before Overstreet transitions its role within the district, Holloway said.
The district has purchased about $200,000 worth of kitchen equipment to feed students, reconstructed classrooms previously used by family centered programs, painted various rooms and cleared out a parking lot for staff.
Other goals include improving the campus’ playground and basketball court, adding a computer lab and improving the school’s wireless internet access.
“There’s a lot going on at Overstreet in preparation for our fifth graders,” Holloway said.
Overstreet is expected to operate as a fifth grade school for two or three years until the SOCSD-Mississippi State University partnership school, which will serve all countywide sixth and seventh graders, is constructed.
The new campus will allow administrators to reprogram schools, thereby alleviating overcrowding issues created after state-mandated consolidation.
Carl Smith covers Starkville and Oktibbeha County for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter @StarkDispatch
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