[12/20/02]The Vicksburg ordinance requiring enclosures for large waste containers has come as a surprise to public schools, but Superintendent Donald Oakes said the Vicksburg Warren County School District will comply.

At a school board meeting Thursday night, trustees allocated up to $25,000 to fence 15 dumpsters outside seven school-owned buildings in the city limits.

“We called the city in July and were told that we would be exempt from this ordinance,” Oakes said. “Last week we made some calls and we were told wrong. We do fall under that category.”

That leaves the district “scrambling,” Oakes said. “We are going to try to make it look right,” he said. “We want something that will fit in with the schools and something that will last.”

Mayor Laurence Leyens said the school district would not face penalties if it does not meet the deadline which arrives in 10 days. He has said the city, too, is behind on constructing the enclosures for dumpsters at city buildings.

“If people are trying and are making a real effort to do this, we won’t give them a hard time about it,” Leyens said.

Leyens said he had no knowledge of the board being told they were exempt from the ordinance.

The ordinance is one aspect of the city’s comprehensive campaign against litter. The fenced or screened enclosures have an aesthetic or beautification aspect, but Leyens has said the main reason for the ordinance is to trap waste and keep it from blowing out onto roads and other people’s property.

In other matters, trustees:

Awarded departing board members Pearline Williams and John Carlisle with plaques of appreciation for their services. New school board trustees Jan Daigre and Betty Tolliver will be sworn in at the Jan. 16 meeting.

Accepted a $1,000 donation from Computer Science Corporation to be used for robotics students’ travel expenses at Warren Central High School.

Accepted a $200 donation from Betty Thornley to be used to purchase uniforms for the clothes closet at Warren Central Junior High School.

Approved out-of-state travel for the VHS Girls Soccer team to travel to Ruston, La., and for the WCHS Boys Power Lifting class to travel to Ruston.

Approved out-of-state travel for administrative assistants James Price and John Walls to attend the National Institute on Legal Issues of Educating Individuals with Disabilities in San Francisco in May 2003.

Approved out-of-state travel for 50 Navy JROTC cadets and chaperones to travel to Southern University in Baton Rouge, San Antonio, Texas, and Auburn, Ala.

Approved out-of-state travel for VHS principal Charlie Tolliver to travel to San Diego, Calif., to attend the National Association of Secondary School Principals Convention.

Accepted donations of a General Electric stand mixer and a camera from the Redwood Booster Club to be used at Redwood Elementary School. The value of the items was estimated to be $277.69

Accepted a $1,000 copier donated by Keystone Ministries to Vicksburg Junior High School.

Accepted a $150 printer from Citgo Petroleum to Instructional Management.

Accepted a request to purchase a 1/2-ton, short-wheel base crew cab truck for the Transportation Department. The cost of the truck is $18,194.

Approved a bus turnaround repair at 3385 Redwood Road.

Accepted a $25,300 bid from Jessie Willis to purchase land in Deer Creek from the school district.

Approved advertising for Section 16-T7N-R4W to be leased as farmland for one year.