Change is coming for public school students in Oktibbeha County.

On July 1, Oktibbeha County schools will officially be consolidated into Starkville School District and there are lots of questions on the minds of parents, students and teachers. The newly formed Starkville-Oktibbeha Consolidated School District held a “Collaboration Before the Consolidation” meeting Tuesday night to answer some of those questions.

Approximately 50 parents and students heard from Starkville High School principal David Baggett, PTO president Angie Forrester and SSD assistant superintendents Jody Woodrum and Toriano Holloway. The group was also addressed by JROTC advisor Col. Charlese Webb, Millsaps Career and Technical Center director Ray New, band director Shawn Sullivan and assistant athletic director and head football coach Jamie Mitchell. The message from SHS to county students and parents was clear: We want you here.

“I will do no more or no less for your kids than I would do for my own,” Baggett said.

“I don’t think there’s anybody more excited about this than me,” Mitchell told parents. “We are going to get better…we are going to be an unstoppable force.”

Mitchell said he already had 39 students from East Oktibbeha coming to SHS two days a week for off season workouts. He encouraged parents to get their students involved throughout the athletic department, which is just one area where SSD offers many more options for students than are available in the county.

Those added opportunities in the classroom and in extra-curricular activities are exciting for parents such as Tremeka Drake. She has two children at EOHS, both of whom are looking forward to consolidation. Her daughter Shymia Drake, who will be a senior next year, can’t wait to get to SHS.

“She’s extremely excited,” Drake said. “She’s looking forward to taking classes she doesn’t have offered now.”

Her son, Jerry Drake, will be a sophomore next year. He is looking forward to a new school and new football team.

Baggett ran through a list of questions put together by students from county and city schools at two Student Leadership Summits. He addressed concerns over uniforms (SSD plans to make the transition gradual to respect parents pocketbooks) and credit transfers (SSD will accept online credits form OCSD). SSD has different graduation requirements than OCSD, which uses the state minimum requirements. Baggett said they will accept state minimum standards for students coming from the county for whom SSD requirements are out of reach so they are not held back unnecessarily.

“We’re not going to hold it against a student that is coming from a school with different requirements than what Starkville High School has,” Woodrum said.

Transportation is an issue still not resolved in the consolidation, but Baggett and Woodrum assured parents they are working to make a system where students can get to school quickly and safely.

“We are going to make it as streamlined as possible so kids aren’t on the bus for an hour and a half everyday,” Baggett said.

Woodrum added the district is considering bringing students in the county to a centralized location and express-lining them to SHS. She said the details are still being worked out.

Concerns about the petition blocking a bond issue to help fund a new building for sixth and seventh graders in coordination with the Mississippi State University College of Education were raised in regards to crowding in schools. Starkville High recently added cafeteria space, which Woodrum said will ease crowding there, but she said there may need to be floating teachers throughout the building. The real concern is in the middle school, where Armstrong Middle School will be adding around 100 kids.

Should the reverse referendum pass, the plan is to have sixth and seventh graders in the MSU Demonstration School, eighth and ninth graders in Armstrong and grades 10-12 at SHS. With an additional school, all buildings in the district could support growth.

“We’re going to need that sixth and seventh grade school,” Woodrum told The Dispatch. “We know it’s at least two years out, but now we don’t know when it’s going to be. So, it’s disheartening.”

Forrester said the PTO is hoping for lots of participation from the county parents. For at least the first year of consolidation, Forrester said there will be co-chair leadership positions within the PTO that will have officers from the city and the county parents.

“Change is here,” Forrester said. “It’s not coming, it’s here upon us. It’s a good thing, and it’s gonna be a great thing. And I want the parents to make it a great thing.”