SOCSD getting million dollar grant for teacher pay during intersessions

STARKVILLE, Miss. (WCBI) – The Starkville Oktibbeha County School District gets over a million dollars in grant money to help struggling students catch up.

The Mississippi Department of Education is awarding $500,000 a year for the next three years to pay for extra teachers and extra instruction time during the district’s planned intersessions beginning next school year.

The grant will allow the district to hire 60 teachers at $35 an hour to provide remediation to students who are trying to catch up to grade-level work, and make up for learning loss during the pandemic.

“This will allow us to spend extra time and get students in for extra assistance as we try to recover the learning losses as much as possible over the next three years,” said Dr. Eddie Peasant, SOCSD Superintendent

Starkville Oktibbeha was one of only 7 districts in the state to receive the grant.