Southeast football coach Brian Ford

Southeast Lauderdale High School welcomes a new football coach, Brian Ford, who was approved by the Lauderdale County School District Board of Trustees at its monthly meeting on Thursday.

Ford said he looks forward to coaching the Southeast Tiger football players.

“We want to build a culture of success that they have in basketball and baseball … and I believe we can do that,” said Ford, who comes to Southeast from Loyd Star High School in Lincoln County.

Ford has 24 years of coaching experience, including 20 years as a head coach. Besides Loyd Star, he has coached at Neshoba Central, Lumberton, Perry Central and Simmons.

In other business Thursday, the school board approved a notice of intent to sell 16 surplus school buses through GovDeals.com, an online auction house where people can bid on government surplus and unclaimed property including buses, trucks, cars and heavy equipment.

Due to a statewide shortage of bus drivers and higher fuel costs squeezing school districts’ transportation costs, Lauderdale County has tried to look at its routes over the last couple of years to see if they can operate more efficiently, said transpotation director Tim Moore. As a result, the district has eliminated 14 bus routes by reconfiguring existing routes.

Also, the district has purchased 11 regular and two handicap new buses this year with three more buses expected.

Tracy Luke, business manager for the Lauderdale County School District, said the district has used the site previously to sell Chromebooks and other equipment, so district officials thought they would see if they could get any offers for the buses.

“We have had some success with this site in the past,” she said.

The school board also voted to table bids for a pavement improvement project after the three bids came in significantly over initial estimates. District officials suggested purchasing some of the needed supplies for the project then re-bidding the project to see if that will lower costs. The board also approved a contract to build a temporary roof on Building 300 on the Clarkdale High School campus as requested by the insurance company to prevent further damage to the building. Building 300 suffered significant damage from a tornado in 2022 and is awaiting major renovations.