The Poplarville School Board of Trustees approved revisions to district policies that were unclear and approved a 24-year easement lease for 16^th Section lands to be used as a driveway.

Poplarville Upper Elementary’s promotion and retention policies failed to include passing language arts as a requirement, said Superintendent Konya Miller. The Board approved additions to district policies to clarify that passing language arts is a requirement for moving to the next grade at the elementary school.

The district’s service animal policy also needed to be updated. The policy did not make it clear that prior approval is needed before service animals can be used in the schools, said Miller. The Board approved updating the policy.

In a separate matter, the Board also approved an easement lease request for some 16^th Section land. A potential landowner wants to build on property next to the district’s land, said Superintendent Konya Miller, but does not have access from the road. The request was for an easement lease agreement to use a stretch of 16^th section lands that would be 50 feet by 180 feet for a driveway to access the property. The land has no trees and is right off of the road, said Miller.

It is a 24-year lease, where the amount agreed upon will be reevaluated every five years. The property owner will pay the district $100 annually for the first five years. The state will have to approve the agreement as well. The district worked with the Secretary of State’s office to determine what the agreement should look like, said Miller.

In other business the Board:

—Approved using Fortenberry and Ballard PC for the district’s financial audit for the next two years. The company performed last year’s audit, said CFO Samantha Sandifer. The district is only allowed to hire a company to perform the audit for three years, before it needs to find a different company to perform the audit, Sandifer said.