The North Pike School District is in talks with the Pike County Sheriff’s Department to hire a resource officer.
The officer will split his or her time between the junior high and the high school.
“I’ve spoke with (Pike County Sheriff Kenny) Cotton about it and he’s on board with the idea,” Superintendent Dennis Penton said.
The district will apply for a $12,000 grant, which will pay the part-time resource officer’s salary and training.
At an April 21 work session, district trustees and Penton met with Pike County Youth Court Judge John Price, who told trustees he and his staff were concerned with North Pike’s expulsion rate.
Price said at the work session that the number of expulsions at North Pike has risen in recent years.
Penton said the number isn’t that high, and the district uses an alternative route to rehabilitate students and place them back into the classroom.
When a student gets into trouble, the violation can fall under three categories — minor, intermediate and major, Penton said.
If a student has been suspended three times or has committed a serious offense, then the student is sent to alternative school.
“We will send them to alternative school for 45 days and then they will be admitted back into school under supervision,” Penton said.
Price also outlined the Juvenile Drug Court operations.
When a juvenile is sent to Drug Court, he or she enters a rehabilitation program for nine months.
A new election would then need to be held.
In other business, the board:
• Authorized the purchase of a Dodge Ram pickup truck for $23,499 from Rainbow Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep-Ram for the city’s public works department. Selectman Michael Cameron, who is an employee of the dealership, recused himself.
•Awarded a $114,000 bid for Splash Pad improvements to Greenbriar Digging. The money comes from hotel-motel tax revenue, which must be directed to recreation projects.
•Authorized a memorandum of understanding between the city and the Mississippi Department of Transportation to use up to $35,000 in Federal Highway Administration funds, including a 20 percent match from the city, for the 2016 Urban Youth Corps Program, which provides employment and jobs training for 16-to-25-year-olds.
•Approved a permit for the Pike County Arts Council to conduct a fireworks display at the Pops in the Park event on May 21 in Edgewood Park.
•Approved the sale of a Glock .45-caliber pistol to retiring McComb Police Department Lt. John Hart for $1. Police Chief Scott McKenzie explained that similar transactions had been authorized in the past so that police officers could keep their service weapons in their retirement. Hart served for 28 years.
• Hired Kylene Peterson as a probationary police officer. She will attend police academy training in Jackson this summer.
•Approved advertising three vacancies, effective May 31, for seats on the city’s Historic Preservation Commission.
