by Hunter Dawkins

Amongst a packed house at the Henry Arledge Administration Building Monday night in Gulfport, the crowd was there to honor the teacher of the year from Harrison County for each of the twenty two schools in the district at the monthly board of trustees meeting.  After celebrating one teacher of the year from each school, Harrison County School District Superintendent Roy Gill named Colonel Clifton Canoy as Teacher of the Year and Vivian Bosworth as Administrator of the Year for the county schools.

Following this recognition, Harrison County Special Education Director Sheila Curtis gave a brief presentation of the updates on the school district’s programs.  With Board Member; Dr. Barbara Thomas, mentioning a parental concern, Superintendent Gill acknowledged an expansion of Harrison Central while stating this was federal money and not coming from the school district.

The school board then recognized Brad Barlow; Harrison County Child Nutrition Director, who asked for authorization of the Cafeteria Interior project.  According to Barlow, $150,000 was already there for the installation of this project, which the board unanimously approved.

In other actions, the board unanimously approved a request to contract Veterans Metal Recycling to remove and dispose of surplus property located outside of the Administration building, adopted a Mississippi Community Oriented Policing Services (MCOPS) in Schools grant in the amount of $180,000, and authorized a purchase of wetland credits (as required by the Army Corps of Engineers) for 12.91 acre impact to begin construction at new East Site elementary and middle school.

Once the board completed a lengthy executive session, Harrison County School Board President Rena Wiggins said the school district hired three new paraprofessional athletic coaches that fulfilled MHSAA requirements.  The next meeting is February 17 at 5:30pm.