A Local Elementary School Receives Renovations After Parents Voice Frustrations

OKOLONA, Miss. (WCBI)- The school bells are ringing and kids are back in class again at Okolona Elementary School.

This is what the school looked like this summer, toilets without lids, air conditioning problems, and stalls without doors.

Fast forward to now, Superintendent Dexter Green said a lot of those problems have been fixed.

“The parent center where the school board normally meets is operational now,” said Green. “We had problems with plasters falling down from the ceiling and that has now been corrected. We had some problems with the restroom lids, so we bought new restaurant fixtures for the boys and girls here at Okolona Elementary. We also put in a new sink in both the boys and girls restroom, and so everything is fully operational at this point.”

Many parents said their biggest concerns were with the school’s bathrooms.

After many concerned parents voiced their frustrations to the school board, school leaders and community members all came together to make the upgrades.

“I have to just go old-school, it takes a village to raise a child, so with everybody coming in and working together, I think that lets the students know that they are supported,” said Martisa Francois, an academic coach at Okolona Elementary School.

Francois was one of the many volunteers who donated her time and efforts to come out to help make renovations to the school.

“I helped clean up kinda behind the stage and we just kinda had to take care of a little bit of dust, and just old materials that we weren’t using anymore, outdated things,” Fancois recalled. “Got in and helped kinda sweep the auditorium, and I even got to do a little painting in the bathroom so, I was all in it,” said Francois.

Back in 2014, the school district was given $2 million to make upgrades to the school.

However, over a four year span all of the needed repairs have yet to be completed.

As of July, Green said only $160,000 remained from the money the district was allotted.

The superintendent said that money has now been spent towards making the finishing touches.

“We repainted the first, second, and third floor,” Green explained. “We’re tiling the floors as we speak now. The hallways on the first and second floor have been re-tiled. We’re looking at removing the carpet off the floors and replacing them also with tile. “We’re looking at replacing the stalls in the boys and girls restrooms. We have already replaced the plumbing fixtures in both the boys and girls restrooms in the three-storey building.

Green said the only projects that remain are to repaint the bathrooms and replace all of the old stalls with new ones.

The superintendent expects those renovations to be completed by December.