MERIDIAN —     The Board of Trustees of the Meridian Public School District's decision to use a focus group to reach out to members of the community to help identify safety concerns has become a reality.

    The Safety and Security Focus Group, a committee designed by the school board, met Thursday night to discuss safety concerns, and also to plan a public meeting in which parents can not only express their own concerns, but learn the process through which they can recommend policy changes to the board.

    Board member Judith Miller said the focus group has been a long time coming.

    "We've had discussions as a board on these issues since last... October," Miller said. "When we met in March, we looked at student achievement data.

    "Well, when you start looking at student achievement data, you also have to look at the safety and security issues and so we started to see that the discipline was playing a significant role... and so as a board, we started talking about it more and more and we started looking at our policies... and so we actually decided to do this.

    "It's not in direct response to anything in particular, but just that there's an overall concern."

    The committee comprises 27 members, including board members, parents, district employees, local business owners and other community members. Seventeen came to the focus group's first meeting.

    "They're going to give us the direction," Miller said. "What we hope is going to come out of this, is that they will help shape the parent meeting.

    "We want to have a meeting with parents of MPSD children to also talk about their concerns. Then we will come back together, we will look at the policies, we will look at what they have said, and see if there are some gaps in things they would like to recommend us to change in policies or procedures."

    Among those in attendance were new interim superintendent Randy McCoy, Meridian High School principal Victor Hubbard, MPSD board president Don Evans, Meridian Housing Authority executive director Ron Turner, board member Teresa Hodges and MPSD director of transportation Jayson Chisholm, among others.

    Members voiced their concerns for the district in a round-table fashion, giving each member ample time to speak.

    "I graduated from this school (and) my son will be attending the ninth grade this year," said Marvis Killingsworth, who is a pastor, a business owner and an instructor at Meridian Community College.  "I'm glad to be here because the concern for me as far as going forward is great because I want this institution to be like it was when I graduated."

    Some of the concerns raised included bullying, discipline, dress code enforcement, time lost because of dress code enforcement, use of mace, the district's suspension rate, weapons and gang presence on the district's schools.

    "I'm just a big fan of my school and my city, and I wanted to come and just have some input, listen and learn," said Craig Houston, who has seven nieces and nephews in the district. "People ask me on committees all the time, but I'm sick and tired of people kicking Meridian public schools and I've had enough of it.

    "I just want to be a part of something positive to try and move us forward. Our problems, they didn't happen overnight, and they're not going to be fixed overnight. We need to come together as a community and move forward and stop with all this negativity." 

    The focus group will meet again July 29 at 5:30 p.m. at the R.D. Harris Building of the MHS campus to further discuss more concerns and a parent and community meeting is tentatively scheduled for Aug. 1.