MHS' Bounds reassigned by school board

By By Georgia E. Frye / staff writer
July 16, 2003
Meridian High School Principal James Bounds was removed from his job Tuesday and reassigned to the school district in an administrative position that will end after a year.
Bounds will serve as administrative assistant on special assignment to the superintendent. He will assist the superintendent in planning, formulating and recommending school district policies and procedures.
The Meridian School Board approved the job description at a specially called meeting Tuesday. Bounds, MHS principal for eight years, did not attend the meeting and could not be reached for comment.
Sylvia Autry, Meridian's interim school superintendent, said she is searching for someone to replace Bounds at MHS and plans to make an announcement soon.
Autry said Meridian High School once was a top-performing school, and she wants to see it return to that status. Autry also said she believes Bounds' talents will be better utilized in the new position.
In other business at the school board meeting:
Autry told board members that scores from the Mississippi Curriculum Test arrived Tuesday and will be released later this week or early next week. The MCT is a standardized reading, language and math test that second- through eighth-graders take each year.
Board members named Vicky Hood as the new assistant principal at Meridian High School. They also named Lisa Barfield as assistant director at Ross Collins Career and Vocational Center.
Board members approved a new policy that states principals and teachers may be fired if they have spent two years at a Level 1 school. That policy will begin with the next school year.
Board members approved two separate programs at Marion Park alternative school. One will focus on behavioral modification and the other on academics.