Educators discuss $34 million bond issue

MERIDIAN, Miss. (WTOK) - The Meridian Public School District will be getting some significant upgrades due to the school bond issue passing Tuesday with 68% approval. This is the first bond issue since 2007. The district held a news conference Wednesday to discuss the plans.

The district wanted to discuss the next steps of putting the money to work moving forward and express gratitude.

“We want to say thank you to the city of Meridian. Thank you so much for answering the call. Thank you so much for stepping up and saying yes to our educators, our children, and overall to the future of our city. The passage of this bond puts us on another playing field as far as upgrading our facilities, improving our academic outcomes, and more importantly, it says the community is with us and supports us in what we do,” said Superintendent Dr. Amy Carter.

The athletic director shared why this bond issue will have a big impact on sports.

“We had a team win for everybody. For the first time, in roughly about 50 years, our student-athletes will be able to call home a baseball facility on campus. No longer will they have to drive two and a half miles to a softball or three miles to a baseball field, but they will be here. In the past, for so many years, we have been traveling to other high schools around the state. Now we are able to come home to be able to have our own facility that we are extremely proud of. It is going to be a state-of-the-art facility,” said Athletic Director Cheyenne Trussell.

We spoke with a parent who highlighted the things in the bond that she said will protect her child and other students.

“As a parent and an educator, the safety is real big. It is at the top of our priority. The school is investing in adding security to the school, whether that be gates or more security on hand. When you send your babies to school and you go to work, the last thing you want to think about is something going on at the school. I think this is a win-win for the entire community,” said parent, Victoria Liddell.

Director of Operations Clay Sims said phase one will begin as early as this fall.

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