Please note that this post contains affiliate links and any sales made through such links will reward MageeNews.com a small commission – at no extra cost to you.
Simpson County School Board met in regular session on Thursday, April 9 at 5 p.m. at the District Office.
In board comments, I offered these general comments:
“For several years Simpson Countians have been asking why the school budget continues to increase even though enrollment has drastically declined. I commend our superintendent, Dr Robert Sanders, for making a good effort to reduce costs and to get our financial situation to a more realistic level. It is my hope that in preparing our upcoming budget for FY 2027 some of these savings can be passed on to Simpson County taxpayers by lowering the school tax.”
We had a report from Bailey Architects on our building upgrade projects. We were disappointed to hear that we are facing a possible budget overrun of up to $1.4 million dollars. Approximately $900,000 of this is for the increased area of the planned new multi-purpose building at the Mendenhall Campus. It was also reported that tests indicated that the City of Mendenhall water system may not be able to provide enough water volume to properly operate the sprinkler systems required in the multi-purpose building and the new addition at the Vo-Tech. Bailey Architects plans to conduct further tests and hopefully, we will have a sufficient water supply without having to construct water towers or drill new wells.
In reviewing our policy “MO” regarding the district’s relationship with home-schooled students, I offered a motion to add this sentence to the policy: “The Simpson County School District recognizes the rights of parents to direct the education of their children and nothing in this policy shall be construed to interfere with that right.” I told the Board that the federal courts have ruled that parents do have the constitutional right to direct their children’s education. I further stated that these rights are granted us by God, not the government and it is my desire that we as a board recognise the rights of parents in our policy. My motion died for lack of a second.
Our financial director, Shelia Copeland, presented us with the financial report, including copies of the 2025 independent audit by McKenzie CPA, LLC. We received a good audit, thank the Lord- and thanks also to Miss Copeland.
The Board approved the claims docket and other routine business.
MageeNews.com is the online news source for Simpson and surrounding counties as well as the State of Mississippi
