STARKVILLE – Starkville-Oktibbeha Consolidated School District is one step closer to getting a new Starkville High School.
The board of trustees voted Tuesday to authorize borrowing up to $125 million in bonds to go toward construction and potentially purchasing property.
Now the district moves forward with nailing down details for the build, which Superintendent Tony McGee estimated will be completed by the 2027-2028 school year.
“We’ll take the time that we need to make sure that we get the facility right,” McGee told The Dispatch after Tuesday’s board meeting. “We know that this is a 50-year commitment (for) this community, so it’s not a process that we want to rush through. We want to make sure that if we’re spending taxpayers’ money, that we’ve got a facility that they can be proud of and that has all the things our boys and girls need.”
The board in 2023 originally approved issuing up to $87 million in bonds, $1 million of which was later used to fund a feasibility study of the current high school facilities. That cap increased by $39 million June 17 when the board approved a resolution of intent to borrow up to $125 million.
Tuesday’s decision gives the board the capacity to issue up to $125 million either in a series or all at once. McGee said the impact that could have on the district’s ad valorem tax request this year is still unclear. But the district intends to approach the process as frugally as possible, he said.
“We won’t borrow any more money than we need,” he said. “We just want to make sure if we needed the money, we would be able to secure the facility that we wanted. So the board will be very diligent on that and make sure that we’re aware of the taxpayer and any burden that may put on it.”
Communications Director Haley Montgomery said the district won’t determine how much to borrow until cost estimates are more certain.
“This resolution gives us the capacity to issue bonds up to $125 million,” she said. “That doesn’t mean we’re automatically going to issue that many. … Most of that is going to be determined when we get to the program phase and when we get square footage costs and different things like that.”
McGee said the $39 million increase stems from increasing cost estimates throughout the planning process.
“If you’ve built anything anywhere, especially in Starkville, you’ll see a dollar cost rising,” he said. “So there was an increase in funds needed to try to build the facility we need.”
Where to build?
Moving forward, McGee said the district is considering two potential locations for the new high school, the first being the current SHS campus. The second is on the north edge of Mississippi State University’s campus next to Partnership Middle, though McGee said the decision hasn’t been finalized.
Montgomery said the district is still trying to determine what to do with the old SHS facilities if the new school is built on the MSU campus.
“All of that is part of what we’re working on with the programming phase of the project,” she said.
The State Board of Education in March recommended the legislature relocate Mississippi School for Mathematics and Science to the same property on the north side of MSU’s campus. The residential high school would share some facilities like a cafeteria and performing arts center with the new SHS, according to MSU’s plan for housing the school.
Any relocation of MSMS requires legislative approval, but lawmakers failed to take up the decision during the 2025 session. Should the relocation be approved next year, Montgomery said the district is prepared to incorporate MSMS into its plans.
“That’s not something that’s our decision, and we (will) just wait until the powers at be make decisions on that before we could really act or move forward with that,” she said.
In the meantime, McGee said the district is working with architects to nail down details for the new school concerning programming needs for both academic and extracurricular spaces. He said the district will fill the public in on the process as plans become more concrete.
“At some point, once we get some renderings, we’ll have some opportunities to show those and look at some drawings and different things,” he said. “We’ve had several stakeholders that have given input on some ideas … of what we may could use in our schools that we are currently lacking. We’re always excited about input from the community and think that’s a big part of it.”
McRae is a general assignment and education reporter for The Dispatch.
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