Officials from the Lamar County School District have set the date for the vote on the proposed bond that would allow for the construction of three new schools in the district, along with a new office building and other spaces.
Residents in the school areas of Lumberton, Oak Grove, Purvis/Baxterville and Sumrall will head to the polls on May 14 to determine whether to pass the measure, which district officials say is necessary to accommodate the steadily increasing student population. In order to pass, the measure must receive the approval of 60 percent of the voters who turn out for the referendum.
“This bond is going to allow us to meet the enrollment needs that we have right now on our campuses,” district superintendent Steven Hampton said. “Our district is 10,531 students at this point, so it would allow us to meet our current enrollment, but also be able to be flexible enough to prepare and be proactive for the growth that we’re expected to see in our county for the future years.
“It’ll give us a head start on making sure we accommodate the growth that we’re seeing. If you drive anywhere in Lamar County, you’ll see rooftops going up all over the place, from Sumrall to Purvis and Oak Grove and Lumberton … and statistics show that we’re the second-fastest growing county in the state.”
Polls will be open from 7 a.m.-7 p.m. on election day at the following locations:
- Lumberton precincts will vote in the Lumberton High School gym at 7920 U.S. 11 in Lumberton. Precincts voting at the gym are Lumberton and Yawn.
- Purvis and Baxterville precincts will vote in the Purvis High School gym, 220 School Street in Purvis. Precincts voting at that location are Purvis, South Purvis, Baxterville, Greenville, Pine Grove and Okahola.
- Oak Grove Precincts will vote in the Oak Grove Middle School gym, 2543 Old Highway 43 in Hattiesburg. Precincts voting at that location are Richburg, Arnold Line, Lake Serene, Oak Grove, Northeast Lamar, Wesley Manor, Breland, Kingsmill, Canebrake, Lamar Park, Mill Creek and Midway.
- Sumrall precincts will vote in the Sumrall High School gym at 184 Center Avenue in Sumrall. Precincts voting at that location are Sumrall, Rocky Branch, Oral and Oloh.
If approved, the bond would help with funding for the following items:
- Lumberton: A new physical education facility.
- Oak Grove: A new Oak Grove Middle School, which would be a two-story structure on U.S. 98 on 16th-Section land which the school already owns. The building would feature a competition gymnasium and band hall. The current Oak Grove Middle School building would be renovated for the 11 Oak Grove Pre-K classes, and the back of the campus, on the Old Highway 11 entrance, would be converted into career and technical education classes. A new office building at Oak Grove Elementary School also would be built and the current office space would be converted back into classrooms.
- Purvis/Baxterville: A new two-story Purvis High School would be built on Highway 11 on school-owned 16th-section land. That building would feature a competition gymnasium, a band hall, choral space, practice/PE fields and JROTC.
- Sumrall: A new two-story Sumrall High School would be built on school-owned 16th- section land. The building would feature a competition gymnasium, a band hall, choral space, practice/PE fields and JROTC.
If the bond does pass and the new structures are built, the measure would leave district officials with several options on what to do with the old buildings.
“In Sumrall, we have some options where we can take the seventh and eighth graders that are at Sumrall Middle now, and move them into some of the classrooms or spaces that are in Sumrall High School now,” Hampton said in a previous story. “We could bring maybe fifth grade over from the elementary, and have five and six (grades) at the current middle school, and then have seven and eight (grades) at the current high school.
“We could do something similar to that in Purvis as well, so those are some spaces that, if the bond passes, we start making those plans.”
There is a possibility that if the bond passes, residents would see a maximum of a 2.5-mill increase in their property taxes. At that rate, an owner of a $100,000 home would see their annual property taxes increase by $24.96 per year, and the owner of a $15,000 vehicle would see those taxes go up by $11.28 per year.
One mill is equal to one-tenth of a cent. To calculate property tax, divide the millage by 1,000 and multiply it by the property’s assessed taxable value.
If the millage was to increase by 2.5 – which Hampton called a “worst-case scenario” – an owner of those instances would see a total increase of $36.24 per year.
“I want to stress that we’ve taken the worst-case scenario, to determine that it would be a 2.5-mill increase, maximum,” Hampton said. “As construction costs come down, as interest rates come down and as our assessed valuation in Lamar County continues to raise … all those factors could offset and there’d be no cost increase.
“But I don’t want to go out to the public and say there will be no millage increase – I’d rather (put forth) the worst-case scenario (just in case).”
To help spread information about the proposed bond and gather information from residents about the measure, school district officials held several community meetings at various schools throughout the district in advance of the measure. That culminated with a recent vote by the district’s board of trustees authorizing the referendum.
“I’ve heard a few comments – not a lot – from people that didn’t know about it or didn’t hear about it,” Hampton said. “But I’ve had 13 meetings between January and now that have been open to the community to get the word out.
“We’ve been in the news, and we’ve had open board sessions.”
Absentee voting is now open for individuals who may not be present on election day. More information on the measure, along with a sample ballot, can be found by visiting www.lamarcountyschools.org and clicking on the “Bond Referendum” tab.
