The Oktibbeha County School board voted Monday night to request the $450,200 needed to buy four new buses and four used buses to rejuvenate the fleet.
They also voted to allow black polo shirts as part of the uniform at each of the district”s four schools.
All board members were present for the meeting, which should be the last in their temporary facility on Louisville Street. They are set to move into their new central office building at the end of July.
The board”s action, on Cynthia Ward”s motion and Herman Bush”s second, approved the resolution asking the Oktibbeha County Board of Supervisors for the money. The supervisors have the authority to approve the millage to raise the money, and the school district will pay it back over five years, Superintendent James Covington said.
“This will not raise taxes,” Covington said.
In other business, the board approved changes to the staff and student handbooks and changed the opening convocation day for staff to Aug. 1, so it would not conflict with Aug. 2 primary elections.
They also approved the district”s insurance policy with Reynolds Insurance for $69,977, a savings of about $13,000 from last year. They are using the same company, but have a new underwriter, Covington explained.
They also approved a separate insurance policy with Bollinger Insurance to provide coverage of students on the district”s buses and at any school function with teacher supervision. The policy will cost $16,240, but carry no deductible and provide $25,000 of coverage per child. A similar policy last year for about $8,000 covered students only on the buses.
The board opened the two bids for propane gas for the year and awarded the bid to Scott Petroleum. Scott Petroleum had a lower fuel-per-gallon cost but higher service calls than Johnson Propane, who also bid. Since the actual purchase of fuel is the majority of the cost, they went with the lower per-gallon cost.
The board went into closed session to handle personnel matters and to embargo test scores, board president Curtis Snell said.
They are set to meet again Aug. 1 at 6 p.m. This meeting should be held in the new offices on Main Street.
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