Carroll County School Board looked a little different at their October monthly board meeting, with a packed house of supporters came as their children were recognized as being students of the month at J.Z. George High School and Marshall Elementary.
From a new agenda look to the way the meeting ran, it was like a well-oiled machine. Board members were heard by the audience, motions were clear, no one talked over the another, and there were no lengthy discussions.
The board’s agenda also had a new look. At the top of the agenda, a website is listed that now links the public to board policies. Superintendent Assistant MiMi Alldread told those in the audience that every Carroll County School Board Agenda will now have the board policy website listed on it, per the Mississippi Department of Education.
Superintendent Billy Joe Ferguson requested to hire another security officer who will work with Brad Carver. Ferguson said he would prefer a female because things may happen in the girl’s bathroom, and Carver can’t respond to those incidents.
He said the security guard will not have to be certified because Carver holds certification and will be the the only person allowed to carry a gun.
“I want to put this person at Marshall Elementary, and they would share duties. If one needs assistance the other will go help. They’ll share some duties at the high school and will travel to ball games,” Ferguson said.
He said the person’s contract will be based on 180 days, minus 45 days because Carroll County just completed the end of the first nine weeks.
“So, the person’s contract will be for 145 days,” he said.
Ferguson said he already has three applicants and will get with Principals Khalilah Tate, Coretta Green and Carver, and they will decide on who’s the best person for the job.
“Any one of them would be good,” Ferguson said.
The board tabled a decision to review the Student Handbook Disciplinary Actions on fighting until they were able to physically see the new policy and how it would be worded.
J.Z. George High School Principal Coretta Green said usually if a fight is one-on-one, then the student is given an office referral, and they are suspended from the bus for a few days. However, she said there have been a total of 10 fights since school began, and 21 people have been involved in the fights.
“These aren’t regular fights. But these were gang fights, and we know these were gang fights because we have evidence that they were,” Green said.
Wiltshire said he read there were a total of 60 fights last year, and he doesn’t remember any of them being brought before the board. Green said because a lot of them were regular fights, they didn’t have to come before the board.
“One did come before the board. There was a big one that I felt should have come before the board, but it didn’t,” Green said. She said students wait until they get on the bus to fight because they know they won’t get suspended from school. She added that she didn’t want students planning to fight on the bus because it could be dangerous to other students.
“There are young children on the bus, and I don’t want them getting hurt. They can throw down real bad,” she said.
Ferguson said they were requesting that the policy is changed to where a student is suspended from the bus and from school.
“They get brought to school but they bring it [the reason for fighting] back to school with them,” she said. “They need to stay at the house and cool down for a few days and then come back. Parents are already struggling to get them to school.” already struggling to get them to school.”
