The Starkville-Oktibbeha School District Board of Trustees will begin laying out a plan at a meeting this evening to replace Superintendent Lewis Holloway next year.
Holloway, who joined the district in 2012, announced earlier this year that he will retire in June. The board will meet at 6 p.m. in the Greensboro Center.
The board is set to meet with Thomas Jacobson, CEO and owner of McPherson and Jacobson, LLC. Trustees hired the firm in November to assist with the search for Holloway’s successor.
Board members will also speak with Tom Clark, a retired superintendent and consultant.
Board President Jenny Turner said the discussion will focus on laying groundwork for the district to move forward with its superintendent search.
“We will go through with them the description of the job and those sorts of things,” Turner said. “They will talk to us about what information they need from us, what our time schedule will be and those sorts of things.”
Vice President Keith Coble said the discussion with the consultants will focus on a number of issues related to the search.
“It’s going to be a fairly wide-ranging conversation,” Coble said. “When we chose to hire them, we discussed it somewhat, but I think…we will get much more detailed in the logistics and the timing of when we’ll do things, how we’ll get feedback from the community and how we want them to function and provide information.”
Coble added the board may discuss how and when to hold public hearings to allow community feedback on the search. During a brief address to the Starkville Board of Aldermen last week, Coble said the district may hold individual hearings for the east and west sides of Oktibbeha County and another for Starkville.
“Last time we did this, I believe we had one public meeting in the Greensboro Center,” Coble said. “Since we’ve consolidated now, my sentiment is we must do multiple meetings.”
Holloway submitted a letter to the school board in November announcing his intention to retire and requesting trustees release him from his contract two years early. This year marks his 42nd working in education.
Partnership school bonds
Board members will also consider a bond resolution for $16 million for its planned grade 6-7 partnership school on Mississippi State University’s campus.
Holloway said the resolution is required for the district to sell the bonds, which is planned for January, and to determine how they will be bid and for how many years.
Board members approved the bond issue earlier this year.
Holloway said the Partnership School is being funded by $12.5 million of the $16 million bond issue. The remaining money will be used on district maintenance, though the exact purpose is to be determined.
The state will also provide $10 million, provided through two separate $5 million bond issues this year and next year. He said the state approved the sale of the first $5 million bonds last week.
Mississippi State University is also providing $5 million in cash for the project, Holloway said, and the equivalent of $5 million in property.
Construction on the school should start next year, and Holloway said the district hopes to have it completed by July 2018.
Alex Holloway was formerly a reporter with The Dispatch.
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