The former Culkin School on Culkin Road might no longer work to educate the next generation, but thanks to a working relationship between Warren County and the Vicksburg Warren School District, the building will continue to have an educational future.

Monday, the Warren County Board of Supervisors, the sheriff’s department and the school district continued a partnership that lets the sheriff’s department use the buildings for training.

Board attorney Blake Teller said the attorney general approved the agreement.

“We have to enter an interlocal agreement with the school district in order for the sheriff’s department to be able to legally go out and utilize that school for training purposes,” Board of Supervisors President Bill Lauderdale said.

While this agreement has been in place for a number of years, it has to be reapproved every year.

“It’s just another step to show the importance of school safety for our law officials in our town because they really do keep us safe,” Superintendent Chad Shealy said.

The sheriff’s department uses a building on the school’s campus for self-contained breathing apparatus training and tactical training like searching through smoke filled rooms, Warren County Sheriff Martin Pace said. The department also practices intruder simulationsbesides using the site for other law enforcement training purposes.

Pace said it gives the department’s employees real world experience so they can be prepared for any emergency that might arise in the schools, offices or other locations.

Lauderdale said he was glad someone is using the facility to keep it from becoming an eyesore.

He’s glad the sheriff’s department is able to use the building to train locally, rather than having to travel out of town.

Culkin Academy once housed students on multiple grade levels until it became Culkin Elementary School and served only younger school children. Several years later the school was closed and sat vacant until it later became a worm farm that was used to raise worms.

For the past three years, the sheriff’s department has used the location as a police training facility. Shealy said not much else could be done with the building because it has fallen into disrepair due to neglect, fires and vandalism.

“It really hasn’t had any maintenance,” Shealy said.

Shealy values the relationship the school district has with the sheriff’s department. He is pleased with the use of the facility for safety purposes.

“It seems like a very good use of that facility because I don’t know that you could use it much more for anything else,” Shealy said. “If it’s going to help them better protect us, you can rest assured they’re going to have our support in it.”