HATTIESBURG, MS (WDAM) -
Petal School District
Superintendent, John Buchanan held an Annual State of the School Address on
Wednesday.
All Petal School District staff members and departments
were recognized by Buchanan for their accomplishments.
Along with honoring new National Board Certified
teachers, the state of school address also included guest speaker Nancy Loome.
As Executive Director of the Mississippi Parent's
Campaign, Loome updated staff members on the legislatures underfunding of Mississippi
Adequate Education Program and how it's affecting the Petal School District.
"In the last five years, Petal School District has
been underfunded by over $8,000,000," said Loome. "You can just imagine what
additional offerings would be available to the students in Petal if the MAEP
had been fully funded."
According to Buchanan, the underfunding has caused
teachers to not receive a raise in approximately eight years.
"While
we've not been fully funded, we've been able to do some incredible things in
the classroom, in the fine arts arena, and the athletics arena as well," said
Buchanan. "I just want folks to get a broad sense of state-wide sense of
exactly how much underfunding is taking place in our legislature."
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