The Webster Progress-Times

Various capital improvements are under way throughout the Webster County School District.

Superintendent of Education Jimmy Pittman reported on the work at the Feb. 19 meeting of the Eupora Rotary Club. The School Board approved the capital improvements program last November, most of which will be performed at Eupora Elementary School.

The gym at EES will be renovated so that Eupora High School basketball games can be played there beginning next school year, said Pittman. The old gym on the EHS campus will be used for practice and junior high games.

The work at EES, he said, will include adding dressing rooms, concession stands and rollback bleachers. Additional work at the elementary school will include renovating the bathrooms, installing blinds in the cafeteria and, for safety purposes, erecting a wooden fence on the west side of the campus.

At East Webster Elementary, the physical education building will be enlarged

Other improvements in the district include a new home-side permanent stadium grandstand system at East Webster High School's football field. The School Board accepted a bid of $98,000 from Magnolia State School Products in January to provide the bleachers.

Additional work includes door and window restoration at the old Eupora High School building, which now serves as the Central Office Building. Gray Little Contractor has been awarded an $80,000 bid to do the work, which is being funded by a grant from the state Department of Archives and History.

Pittman said some foundation and roof repairs were to also be made at the building, where all but two classrooms are being used. He also said painting would be done at all facilities and parking problems at the Webster County Career and Technology Center will be addressed.

Regarding the WCCTC, Pittman said about 170 students attend night classes there offered by Holmes Community College. HCC offers 30 hours worth of courses and Pittman said this helps dual-enrollment high school students.

Pittman also reported that the WCSD will receive nearly $9 million from the state through the Mississippi Adequate Education Program for the next fiscal year, which is about a $100,000 increase.

He said the district has been able to operate with the funds it has and is not top-heavy in administrators.

"We have the bare minimum of personnel in the central office," said Pittman. "We have a very efficient staff. That allows us to put money back into different places"

Pittman also said all employees were put on a pay scale last year that provides for automatic raises based on experience.

"That's worked really well for us," he said.