BOONEVILLE – Parents and students resumed protests of school board plans to restructure the Prentiss County School District during Monday’s board meeting.

About a dozen people carried placards stating their objections as they stood on the sidewalk across the street from the school board office before and during the meeting.

Public attendance at school board meetings and protests waned when the board voted in August to rescind a previous restructuring plan. However, a new plan adopted at the Sept. 21 meeting has spurred new opposition.

Two school board members – board President Rickie Davis and board member Mike Kesler – who have consistently opposed any restructuring plan, once again voiced their objections to the vote taken at the Sept. 21 meeting that approved a new organization plan.

The newly adopted plan will result in two 7-12 grade high schools in the county and four K-6 elementary schools. The district currently has two K-8 schools; three K-12 schools and one 9-12 school.

Kesler, who missed the Sept. 21 meeting and the work session to discuss reorganization options which preceded it, said he didn’t understand the haste to move ahead with reorganization. He then offered a motion, which was approved, to hold another work session to review the issues further, including more details of projected savings to the district.

The board has been wrestling with the issue of whether and how to restructure schools in the district since last summer, when they asked Smith to present reorganization options.

In conjunction with the proposed work session, board members asked Superintendent Matt Smith to pursue having a consultant from Mississippi State University meet with them for the work session, with the understanding that there would be no charge for the university’s assistance.

A date for the work session will be set after Smith has a response from MSU. The next regular board meeting is 6 p.m. Oct. 19.

Contact Lena Mitchell at 287-9822 or lena.mitchell@djournal.com.