by Hunter Dawkins
With the second largest county in the state of Mississippi receiving their first “A” grade in their accountability standards last week, the Board of Trustees in Harrison County delivered a few new items to improve a school and allow travel at Monday night’s meeting in Gulfport.
When the Harrison County School District Superintendent Roy Gill mentioned the bids for the North Gulfport K-8th School Renovation Project, the school board awarded the contract to Starks Contracting Company. Gill expressed this company would cost the school district $1.2 million below budget.
School Board Member Dr. Barbara Thomas asked Gill about the project and if there were some items left out of the renovation for North Gulfport Schools. “I stress that we need more bathrooms at North Gulfport,” said Thomas, who suggested that the amount of bathrooms for children and faculty was not sufficient. The school board voted 4-1 to award the bid with Dr. Thomas dissenting.
In other actions, the Harrison County Board of Trustees approved the consent agenda items unanimously. These features included authorization to apply for annual Mississippi Community Oriented Policing Services (MCOPS) in schools grant that was available through the department of education and gave over $182,000 in payment to the MS Municipal Workers Compensation Group for the first installment of the fiscal year premium.
Finally, the school board approved three travel requests from West Harrison High School, covering extension of homebound services due to a medical condition, allowing Rho Kappa students to travel to New Orleans for a field trip to the World War II museum, and National Honor Societies to go to Mobile in attending the International Festival.
