Changes In Coming School Year Include Moving Graduation To Football Field

By David Howell

Editor

WATER VALLEY – School trustees approved several changes for the coming school year including moving the Water Valley High School graduation to the football field next May. The recommendation comes from a committee formed from members of the committee and was unanimously approved at Monday night’s school board meeting.  For more than a decade, the graduation has been held at the Tad Pad on the campus of the University of Mississippi.

“We kicked that around all last year,” Superintendent Dr. Michael McInnis said. The superintendent said a committee formed of community members unanimously made the recommendation after a lengthy meeting.

“I just think personally it’s the right thing to do. We can accommodate them on the football field in a very nice ceremony,” McInnis added. “It would be good for our businesses, our restaurants. They are so good about supporting our schools.”

Water Valley High School Principal Drew Pitcock said the date could be set for Friday, and Saturday could be an alternate date in case of inclement weather.

“Everybody that we talked to was extremely excited about what it could do economically and what it could do culturally,” Pitcock added. 

Other changes implemented at Monday’s meeting were to school handbooks. Starting with the high school, Pitcock recommended changing the policy for students taking AP classes. The change would remove the requirement to take the final AP exam for potential college credit.

Pitcock said the state’s accountability model automatically gives the students credit just for taking the class. But, he said the policy had required students to take the final AP exam and some students declined to take the class as a result.

Pitcock also said a slight change was made to the handbook’s code of conduct regarding stealing. Currently the punishment for stealing was only restitution, plus attending counseling, the principal explained.

“You had to go to counseling and things like that. But we added a mandatory corrective strategy for the offense level,” Pitcock said. This could include in-school suspension, after-school detention. Something else would go along with it besides just paying the money back, we thought that was fair,” Pitcock added.

“It needs to be intervention in place that teaches them right from wrong,” McInnis added.

“We still have that as well,” Pitcock answered.

Next the principal explained the parking policy for students at the high school will be on a first-come, first-served basis.

“Meaning the earlier you get to school, the better spot you get,” the principal said.

In previous years with designated parking spots, Pitcock said students arriving to campus shortly before classes started and discovered someone in their spot, which led to interruptions after classes started. 

Another big change comes at Davidson Elementary School after principal Brianna Franklin explained the faculty will enforce the school’s existing transportation policy.

“It’s a huge safety issue,” Franklin told trustees after explaining that the faculty will no longer accept phone calls to make transportation changes for students. Instead, according to the existing policy, the school will only accept handwritten notes and the information must be confirmed. Franklin explained the school must know where the child is going, who is receiving the child, address, phone number, information that must be on the student’s emergency card. Previously parents had been allowed to phone the school to request a transportation change.

“This will help out a lot with our phone lines being tied up in the afternoons. We had parents who had true emergency situations and could not get through,” Franklin said, adding that this will be a huge change for some parents in the district. 

To help educate the parents on the matter, Franklin said flyers will be distributed to parents at the open house and transportation forms will be included in the students’ folders.

“It’s not really a change in the policy, it is just going to be enforced,” Board President Taylor noted after examining the handbook.

Trustees also approved the Classified Staff Handbook and Faculty Staff Staff Handbook with minor revisions.