The Fate of a School

Jeanne Brooks sends the following, from the SunHerald, concerning the disposition of Chas. B. Murphy Elementary School:

HANCOCK COUNTY - Construction could begin sometime in the spring on a new elementary school for students in Lakeshore and Pearlington, according to district officials.

School Board President Morgan Ladner said site preparation for the new school will soon begin at the old Gulfview Elementary location at the corner of Lower Bay Road and Lakeshore Drive. The board voted this week on the location.

Gulfview Elementary and Charles B. Murphy Elementary were demolished after Hurricane Katrina struck last year. Since the storm, students have been forced to drive more than 12 miles to classes on the high school campus near Stennis International Airport.

"This is good news for the people in the southern portion of the county," Ladner said. "We plan to have a state-of-the-art facility, the best on the Coast, for the students of Pearlington and Lakeshore. "In order to use federal funds to help build the school, the district has to meet FEMA's flood guidelines, which means rebuilding on high ground.

District officials recently narrowed a list of potential sites for the new school to two properties: The Gulfview campus and property along Lower Bay Road near U.S. 90.Ladner said the Gulfview campus is higher above the flood plain than the other property and the district would not have to purchase any land.

"The deciding factor was that this was the highest of the two," he said. Ladner said parents and students will likely come up with a list of suggested names for the new school and then the school board will select one. In addition, students may determine a mascot and the school colors.

Jeanne Brooks

"Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire."

(William Butler Yeats)