STARKVILLE, Miss. (WTVA) -- Tuesday afternoon, the Starkville School District Board of Trustees accepted a bid to build a fence around a portion of Starkville High School.
The reason behind the project is to keep trespassers out.
"It was a safety issue. People use the back of the school as an access point to other parts of town. We have a section of housing here that people cut across the ditch and we've had people come on the campus, not to hurt anyone but to cut through," said Superintendent Lewis Holloway.
Last December, a bid was put in place for the fence.
But at the time, the Board of Trustees didn't have the appropriate funds for the project.
The plan is now in motion after revisions were made to the plan.
"We reduced the scope of the project, utilizing a ditch full of riff-raff on the east side of the building working as a natural barrier. So, we took out 400-linear feet of the bid to save money. So, the bid was accepted today [Tuesday] at $166,000," said Holloway.
School officials hope that the fence will keep the students safe and those who shouldn't be on campus, off campus.
"We're just concerned that potentially there could be a problem for safety and protecting our students is of course our first role as public school officials," continued Holloway.
The project should begin by the end of the year.
