Lafayette County School Board Discusses Gymnasium Concerns

By Collin Rivera
Hottytoddy.com intern
cmrivera@go.olemiss.edu

During the Lafayette County School Board’s end of fiscal year meeting, Athletic Director Greg Lewis looked at the 2018-2019 year as a remarkable one but faced concerns from other board members about a specific building at one of their schools – the gymnasium at Lafayette High School near the ROTC building.

The Lafayette County School Board met Monday, June 24 to discuss their year-end fiscal report. Photo by Collin Rivera.

Board President Kimberly East said the building is severely outdated and contains several exposed breaker boxes and holes in the concrete flooring. She said that multiple children are typically found playing in that area and wants to ensure that they are safe at all times.

Lewis said a renovation is a possible resolution to fixing the damages inside the gymnasium, may take some time for that to happen. Both LCSD Superintendent Adam Pugh and Lewis said that there was an attempted renovation project of the building in December of 2018, but the cost was not in the school’s budget.

There are planned corrections for some of the damages in the gymnasium as a short term goal. Lewis told the board that he has contacted officials to take care of the electric problems, but a “complete renovation may have to wait.”

Other Items in the Athletic Director’s Report:

Over the past year on the field, LHS had six district champions, two state champions, and two state champion runner-ups, Lewis said. Academically, there were 13 teams that held a 3.0 GPA or higher. Lewis credited both the players and coaches for their academic achievement.

“It shows that we not only have great kids, but the coaches as well have done a fantastic job with their teams,” he said. 

During the year Asics, the famous running shoe brand, donated 900 pairs of shoes to the school district. Lewis said the athletic board was able to give out 200-300 pairs of shoes to students who needed them most. He hopes to continue this charitable cause by helping several more children who can not afford shoes for his/her individual sport(s).

Lewis said one focus going forward is to provide any resources a student-athlete needs to pursue a D-1 program. Lewis plans to schedule meetings with both coaches and players prior to the new year to discuss the students’ goals and how to help achieve them. He added that tutoring will be providing in 7th-period classes if any student is feeling like his or her grades are decreasing.