By Myra Bean

The North Panola School Board had a full house of citizens at its monthly board meeting Wednesday night.

Most of the board meeting centered around a student and parents who disagreed with the ruling of the superintendent about how she did not receive credit for her dual enrollment at Ole Miss.

Keitry Eppenger said during the break while the board was deciding if his case should be heard in executive session that the school gives students who go to Northwest Community College extra points on their GPA but they will not honor those of kids who go to Ole Miss.

According to Eppenger through his lawyer, this is done at the discretion of the school and not at the state level.

Alandria Eppenger has a 4.2 GPA and is on track to be valedictorian but other students’ extra grades could push her down, according to her father..

Mr. Eppenger also believes that Alandria is being shunned because she became pregnant and had a baby between her freshman and sophomore years, he said.

After the executive session, superintendent Cedric Richardson told the crowd that the Eppengers will have a final decision no later than Wednesday, Dec. 5.

Other Board News

In other board news, in the consent agenda, the board approved 167 Alonzo Gipson Road, Sardis as a school bus turnaround.

Also, they approved the revised school district calendar to include the date of graduation which will be May 22, 2019.

The School Board approved claim dockets for district maintenance, special education, federal program for $528,975.59 and also the school food service for $88,183.44.

The licensing agreement between Pel Industries, Inc. and North Panola was approved. Discussion ensued which explained that North Panola would receive 10 percent of the net profit from the sale of products.

Assistant Superintendent Dr. Jamone Edwards will look into trademarking the North Panola Cougar logo so no one canmake money off the school’s name without permission.

The school was given permission to accept the higher bid and purchase the iReady intervention program from Curriculum Associates, LLC as it has been successful in the past.

The Board agreed to adopt/revise 38 policies due to requirements from House Bills, Senate Bills, federal laws, Mississippi Department of Education and MSBA.

The last item before the executive session was the approval of personnel for employment recommendations.