[08/16/02]Bowmar Elementary has been declared a landmark by the Mississippi Archives and History Department, making it eligible to receive a grant of up to $300,000 for repairs.

If the money is awarded, a 20 percent match would be required from the Vicksburg Warren School District which Superintendent Donald Oakes said the board is willing to provide.

Fixing Bowmar’s roof is a high priority on the facility improvement list prepared by consultants during the summer. The total of the list is about $32 million and the district has about $4 million allocated this year.

Any grant money left over would go to replacing some windows, which would have to be restored in a historic style to abide by the Mississippi Archives and History Department requirements.

Bowmar, now the only elementary in Vicksburg’s corporate limits, operates independently of the north-south zones established in a school choice program created in 1999.

In other action, trustees learned they could be allocated $180,034 from the Rural and Low-Income School Program, part of the federal No Child Left Behind Act that provides additional funds to rural districts.

The funds will be used for extended-day tutorial programs in the junior and senior high schools, tutors for elementary students and an extended school year for grades K-6. Funds will also be used for professional development for activities for teachers.

In other matters, trustees:

Approved recommendations for new employees.

Approved out-of-state travel for some classes.

Accepted donations of a Pionex computer and a Canon fax machine to the central office from G&C Builders at a total value of $450.

Accepted a donation of a Gateway 600L laptop computer to the district from Mississippi Teacher Leadership Project at a total value of $2,129.

Approved advertising for bids on serving lines for Warren Central High School.

Accepted the highest bid of $10,001 from Good Hope Inc. for a timber sale on Section 16-T18N-R4E (Deer Creek).

Approved a software purchase costing $7,200 for special education.

Asked for repairs to Countryside Road to make it safer for bus travel.

Accepted a cash donation of $1,000 to South Park Elementary School to be used for computers from an anonymous source.

Gave Open Door Bible Church, renting property on 16th Section land located on Mount Alban Road, permission to attach a 16×20 Sunday school room to the existing facility.