MENDENHALL, Miss. (WJTV) – The Simpson County School District (SCSD) will hold a special election Tuesday, March 29, for a $39 million bond issue, which will be used for the construction of a new high school.
Voting will take place at voters’ regular polling precincts from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. Absentee ballots will be accepted until Saturday, March 26, at the Simpson County Circuit Clerk in Mendenhall.
The $39 million bond will be used for the construction of the future Simpson County High School. The school will be located off of U.S. Highway 49, just north of Howard Industries and south of AirSouth Heating and Cooling.
“The decision to combine Magee High School and Mendenhall High School was based on an ongoing facility study that began three years ago, and the board’s desire to offer our students a broader range of courses,” said SCSD School Board President Danny Cowart. “A new high school was the remedy to a global challenge we were facing with the conditions of our existing facilities – especially Mendenhall Junior High School. With the construction of a new high school, not only will we be able to place every student in an adequate facility suitable for learning, we will also be able to increase course offerings that we were not able to offer in two small high school settings.”
Once the new Simpson County High School is completed, students attending Magee and Mendenhall high schools will attend the new facility, while students attending Magee Middle School and Mendenhall Junior High will move to the vacant high school facilities.
The district will need at least 60 percent of the registered voters voting in the election to be in favor of the bond for it to pass.