After recent questions about what is being taught in Simpson County schools’ sex education program, the school board’s policy was made clear at last week’s board meeting.
“The board’s policy regarding sex education is abstinence until marriage and fidelity after marriage,” according to Danny Coward, chairman of the board.
The board meeting opened with students from Magee Elementary leading the Pledge of Allegance to the Flag.
Simpson County Tech Center employee Kenyatta Durr was recognized for receiving a Master Teacher in Economics certificate from the Mississippi Council on Economic Education. She was one of 19 in the state to be recoginized for her acceptance into the program.
Mendenhall students Xylan Cox and Kaylyn Johnson were recognized for being selected to serve on the Mississippi Public Broadcast Student Council. They join Corinne Allen and Kaylen Woodard, who also serve on the council.
The board carried on extensive discussion of a program the district is implementing called Battell for Kids. It was first implemented in Ohio in the early 2000s and now has spread to over 200 school districts nationwide.
The goal of the program is to get students to master critical thinking, communication, collaboration and creativity.
The estimated cost for the training, which occurs in Columbus, Ohio, is approximately $42,000 for approximately ten staff members from different specialities within the district. Board member Stacey Herrin asked why a smaller group could not attend and share their findings. The response was that is exactly what the board was planning to do, but that this is an all encompassing program that deals with administration and finance as well as the principals within the district. Herrin also asked who would do the jobs of these people while they were off training.
Board member Lillie Hardy offered her opinion that the district was doing the same old thing over and over and expecting different results and went on to say that improvements require a lot more than just listing something on paper it requires implementation. Following discussion the board voted in favor of moving ahead with implementation of the program.
Nurse Judith Jones reported to the district there were still a large number of student who tested defficiently in hearing and will be needed to be retested. It has previously had been reported this could be from excessive use of ear buds by students at a high volume. Jones reported to the board that all three of the elementary schools in the district would be able to implement Tele-health and given access to physicians at no cost. This would help in quickly identifying health issues at a younger age and the only cost to the student would be perscriptions that were placed at local pharmicies. The reason for only implementing in elementary is because they all have nurses on duty that can assist with physician testing.
The district is moving ahead with the land clearing located on Highway 49 for the construction of the consolidated high school. It was reported that most of the clearing will be paid for from proceeds from the sale of timber on the parcel. The completion of the Medenhall Fifth Grade building continues to be an issue with little to no construction progress being made. It was reported that windows had to be re-ordered because the wrong size came in. The contractor is facing a $300 a day late penalty charge for completion delay. It was reported that the building site in Pinola has been cleared and all the portable classrooms had been removed from the area.
Dr. Holloway reported that the Breast Cancer awareness walk was a success for the district and was a good experience for those students who participated in giving back to thier community.
Misty Hannah and Heidi Russel reported back to the board on a program that indicates that students have not been successfully trained to complete high school, go to college and then enter the workforce. The information they reported to the board is that only 16 percent of students are properly trained to accomplish this goal. The goals is to implement the program presented by Hannah and Russel to better prepare students for graduation.
