The Marion County School District is furthering its outreach about the upcoming special bond vote, which will be held on May 24, and fielded tough questions from the Marion County Board of Supervisors on Monday.
Superintendent Michael Day and board members Wendy Hammonds and Wali Bilal presented the plan for consolidation to the board to start the meeting. The supervisors were shown a slide show and given a pamphlet on the bond issue as well as an article on "School Quality as a Tool for Attracting People to Rural Areas."
The first public forum to discuss the bond issue has been scheduled for this Friday evening from 5:30-6:30 p.m. at the National Guard Armory. The next school board meeting will be held on April 11 at 6 p.m.
Marion County Board of Supervisors attorney Drew Foxworth pointed out that the board has no authority over the school board and has no official stance on the matter. Any thoughts on the bond or the consolidation, he said, would be individual opinions of board members.
During a question and answer time, Supervisor Blue Green questioned the accuracy of the numbers as far as cost of the project and the amount of taxes the bond would cost the taxpayers. He suggested that the school board boost their example to reflect taxes on a $200,000 home because that is more realistic.
Day asserted that the numbers are pretty accurate, but the exact tax and millage amounts are not known yet. He said they are waiting on the tax assessor's office for exact amounts.
Several of the supervisors wanted to be sure that residents know that all voters in the Marion County School District are able to vote in the election on May 24, and they will be taxed if the bond passes, whether they have children attending district schools or not.
"I don't feel like our people can afford it right now with prices the way they are," Supervisor Raymon Rowell said.
"It's been needing to be done," Supervisor Calvin Newsom countered. "I sit in circles where I hear business leaders ask how many top ten schools we have in our county. When they hear that there are none, it is a negative. They will hire local people to work, but they refuse to introduce their leadership team's children to substandard schools. The evidence is there. Look at Sumrall and Oak Grove. I want ALL Marion County children to succeed. There's lots in the county that's not being done. Improvements don't come without revenue. Bottom line is that it's going to affect tax payers."
Marion County Circuit Clerk Janette Nolan requested a correction of a possible misunderstanding about purchases of voting machines. Nolan said her office has saved the money for the machines through grants and savings. Nolan wanted to assure residents that no county funds have been used or will be used to purchase the voting machines. She said her office has the money and is awaiting passage of a bill by the legislature before purchasing the machines. In an order executed by the Board of Supervisors on June 7, 2021, they acknowledged receipt of a Help America Vote Act grant in the amount of $53,968.26 and approved the advertisement for bids for a Turnkey Election System pursuant to the specifications determined by the Circuit Clerk.
According to Nolan, 15 of the scanners and ballot boxes and 20 of the ADA compliant express voting machines have been purchased. The balance needed for the special bond election and the primary election are on order and should arrive on time for the elections.
There is a Voting Modernization bill in the legislature that Nolan hopes will pass to continue to offset the cost of maintaining the new equipment.
The board approved the purchase of two new garbage trucks on Tuesday. The better of the old trucks will be kept, so three trucks will be on hand. The decision was made due to the continuous repairs on the old trucks.
County Engineer Jeff Dungan reported on several projects Tuesday. He said that applications for Emergency Road and Bridge Repair funding will open in the next month or so. The plan is to use the funds to replace any old timber pile bridges in the county. One example of this is the Robert Baggett Road Bridge, which was closed by the federal government due to safety issues.
The board approved ads for bids on paving projects to be opened on May 10. The bids would be for all five districts but separated by areas to enable more companies to place bids on projects closer to their home offices.
Dungan told the board that it looks like no extra funds were placed in the State of Mississippi budget for roads. The expectation was that there would be.
