Video: Oktibbeha County Voters Could Decide on Multi-Million Dollar Bond Issue

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OKTIBBEHA COUNTY, Miss. (WCBI) — Bond money educators say is critical to the combined Starkville-Oktibbeha County school district may end up in the hands of voters.

Some residents want a referendum on whether the county school district should issue up to $13.2 million in bonds for elementary school renovations, buses, part of a planned middle school on the Mississippi State University campus and a pre-kindergarten program.

Last year, the Legislature authorized the county district to issue bonds as part of the July merger with the Starkville School District. Under the current plan, county students will attend Armstrong Middle and Starkville High School, but younger students will remain at the county’s two aging elementary schools.

If 20 percent of voters in the county district file petitions by Jan. 13, the bond issue will have to go to a vote.

Meanwhile, Golden Triangle area lawmakers will push the Legislature to give the consolidated Oktibbeha-Starkville district first dibs on money from the state’s public school building.

The move would help offset some of the costs of the merger, which was forced on the two districts by the Legislature in 2013.

A committee created by the Legislature to oversee the merger has estimated $18 million in construction, and equipment is needed to help make the process a success and provide equal opportunities for all students in the combined district.