Vicksburg Warren School District principals, coaches and Superintendent James Price will meet Monday morning to determine how the district will deal with the record hot temperatures, Price said Saturday evening.

&#8220We’ll discuss it and decide what’s best for the kids,” he said.

Saturday’s high was 101 degrees, recorded by the National Weather Service. The sweltering temperature beat the recorded highest 99 degrees, recorded before 1885. The mercury was predicted to be 102 today with a heat index of 105. The temperature was forecast to drop Monday to 101 before climbing daily to 104 on Wednesday.

On Friday, with temperatures at 100, Price banned all outdoor activities – except nighttime practice for football – for the 9,200 students in the district. The ban requires all activities – cheerleading, PE and other sports – to be performed inside.

The superintendent’s decision came the day after two Warren Central High School band students were rushed to River Region Medical Center for heat-related symptoms. Both students were released that night and returned to school on Friday, but Price said he doesn’t want to take any chances.

&#8220It’s common sense to me,” he said. &#8220We just have to do what’s best for the kids.”

In Mount Olive, about 94 miles southeast of Vicksburg, a football player collapsed and died Wednesday during an afternoon practice. His death, caused by a heat stroke an autopsy showed, prompted a Grenada County Judge to ban six north Mississippi counties from allowing outdoor activities from 7 a.m. until 9 p.m. Two days later, the Mississippi Supreme Court overturned the order. The ban angered coaches and educators throughout the six-county area, which is DeSoto, Tate, Panola, Yalobusha, Grenada and Montgomery counties. Five school districts asked the court to overturn the order, which would affect sports and band practices, as well as outdoor recesses and activities at area community colleges.

A motion filed by the Mississippi High School Activities Association claimed school boards, through the MHSAA, should regulate high school activities, not a judge.

Price said he will do what he thinks will protect students, unless told otherwise. He called his decision on Friday a &#8220no-brainer.”

He believes, with air conditioning being a staple in most people’s homes, children can’t handle hot Mississippi summers the way they once did.

&#8220Our kids – they’re not the same as we were,” he said. &#8220When we get temperatures like this, we have to protect them from what they aren’t used to.”

All 14 school buildings in use by the school district are air-conditioned.