DeSoto County school board approves series of contracts, purchases and personnel actions
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Summary
At its meeting the DeSoto County School District board approved multiple contracts — including athletic fencing, playground additions, hydroponic systems and E-Rate rewires — authorized payment of late invoices, and approved personnel-leave and temporary positions.
The DeSoto County School District board voted to approve multiple procurement and personnel items during its regular meeting.
Board members authorized entering into a contract for athletic fencing at Southaven High School following staff recommendations; procurement staff had recommended accepting the lowest and best bid from Kensington Unlimited LLC. The board also approved playground additions at Hernando Hills Elementary and Horn Lake Intermediate, awarding the work to Wilco Services LLC after the district’s bid process. Staff told trustees that the playground projects had received single or lowest-bid evaluations and recommended contracting with Wilco Services.
Child nutrition staff recommended an indoor vertical hydroponic growing system for classroom and nutrition use; the board approved entering a contract with Fork Farm after the RFP evaluation committee tabulated scores. The board also approved E-Rate partial rewire projects, contracting with Endeavor IT for work at Fernando Middle School and Olive Branch Elementary, following RFPs for those projects.
The board approved payment requests for several inadvertently overlooked vendor invoices after staff said the issues had been addressed with department personnel. Trustees likewise approved a request from the transportation department to pay fees for received hardware and to purchase a new bus under an existing state contract, with the bus to be paid from district maintenance funds.
On personnel matters, the board approved a package that included adjustments to personal leave (allowing up to five days or 40 hours of paid initial leave between Jan. 9 and Jan. 23 when schools are closed, delayed or dismissed for inclement weather for qualifying employees), additional pay for competition judges and tutors, and the creation of a temporary data support unit for the transportation department effective Jan. 9 through June 30, 2026.
All procurement and personnel items were moved and approved by voice votes during the consent portion of the meeting. The board scheduled an executive session later in the meeting to handle student-discipline and residency appeals.
The board’s next meeting was announced for Wednesday, Jan. 21, at 10 a.m.