By Byron Wilkes / bwilkes@themeridianstar.com
The Meridian Star
MERIDIAN —
The Board of Trustees of the Meridian Public School District unanimously approved of more than $270,000 in contracts and renewals Monday night for items ranging from computer software to land clearing.
Of the money approved, more than $162,000 went to software for various parts of the district, including the classroom. The board also approved $8,700 to repair seats of all school buses.
Additionally, the board approved 10 new hires last night, three of which will be new assistant principals at Meridian High School.
The board hired Shannon Ruffin, Monik Smith and Rufis Wright to help MHS principal Victor Hubbard, who himself was hired in early April, run the school. Ruffin and Smith come from the Newton and Columbus public school systems, respectively, while Wright comes from Magnolia Middle School.
"We filled the assistant principal positions at Meridian High tonight," said interim superintendent Terry Larabee after the meeting. "They will be working with Hubbard and Howard Hagword that already work at Meridian High."
Board member B.J. Barrett was enthusiastic about the new positions.
"We just hired three of the most awesome assistant principals at Meridian High," Barrett said.
Barrett went on to say that the newly hired employees will help get the district back to where it needs to be.
Among other grant approvals, the board voted to pursue a federal grant of nearly $40,000 to the United States Department of Agriculture 2010 National School Lunch Program Equipment Assessment Grant.
Larabee said the money will go to purchasing new greaseless cookers, and food prepared in these cookers will be relatively healthier than with current preparation methods.
