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Serving Columbus & Starkville, Mississippi        (https://cdispatch.com/) Home  » (https://cdispatch.com/news/) News  » SOCSD approves concrete, steel work for new high school   (https://cdispatch.com/news/) News   SOCSD approves concrete, steel work for new high school By (https://cdispatch.com/author/bsimmons/) Braden Simmons  • August 13, 2026  • 4 mins to read   (SOCSD approves concrete, steel work for new high school)   Superintendent Tony McGee speaks to the Starkville-Oktibbeha Consolidated School District Board of Trustees Tuesday at the Greensboro Center. Trustees approved more than $13 million in construction packages for the new Starkville High School at its regular meeting Tuesday to pave the way for foundational work to begin in September. Braden Simmons/Dispatch Staff  STARKVILLE – More than $13 million in construction packages were approved Tuesday night to begin laying the physical foundation for the new Starkville High School. After fielding construction bids for the project in July, the Starkville-Oktibbeha Consolidated School District Board of Trustees approved the acceptance of two bid packages for concrete and steel work, which came in about 3% above the estimated costs, Superintendent Tony McGee told The Dispatch. (https://cdispatch.com/news/socsd-approves-concrete-steel-work-for-new-high-school/attachment/mcgee-tony-2025/) ()    Tony McGee    “We did a projection before we bid it out,” McGee told The Dispatch Tuesday. “… We do know that there’s been some rise in the cost of steel and electrical, and so we did see a little elevation in those two areas, but everybody else was about normal.” Roughly $7.9 million in dirt work and grading is almost complete to prep the site for construction. With the acceptance of these packages, the project is entering its second phase, which is (https://cdispatch.com/news/ask-the-dispatch-what-all-is-included-in-the-new-starkville-high-school-build/) projected to cost roughly $99.2 million, and include a 227,000 square-foot facility with a classroom wing and common lab spaces, administrative offices, two gymnasiums, a cafeteria with an outdoor patio and a courtyard connecting the classroom wing with common spaces. Abbey Bridges Construction Co., a Batesville-based construction company, was awarded the structural concrete work for the building’s foundation for more than $4.1 million, and SteelFab Inc., a Jackson, Tennessee-based steel fabricating company, was awarded the structural steel framework for a little more than $9 million. McGee said that work should begin in September. Sumner Davis, board president, said the board still has 13 other packages to approve for the rest of the phase’s construction. McGee said the goal was to start with these two to make sure the project stays on schedule for its projected June 2028 completion. Lower tax request The board Tuesday also approved lowering its ask for ad valorem tax collection from roughly $38.4 million to $37.9 million. That cost still marks roughly $4.2 million in additional costs compared to last year’s budget. The largest (https://cdispatch.com/news/socsd-asks-for-4-7m-more-next-year-from-taxpayers/) difference in the proposed FY 2027 budget is a 51.4% increase in the district’s debt request of $7.7 million, including $1,751,967 to cover a 3-mill note for capital improvements and $6,001,684 for general obligation bonds, more than double last year’s bond payments. Davis said after the board’s public budget hearing in July, the district took another look at its proposed FY 2027 budget and found room to make about $500,000 in cuts to its operations budget to drop its ask. With property values expected to rise an estimated 21.5% next year primarily from reassessment by the Mississippi Department of Revenue that raised home and commercial values, the school district’s tax rate can drop and still generate a higher total. Because of those rising property values, the district’s request can be serviced with a tax rate of about 60.97, a reduction of 4.98 mills compared to this fiscal year. That rate would also be a 0.8 mill decrease from what was expected in the July draft. That would mean the owner of a house now valued at $100,000 will see that value rise to $121,500 and can expect to pay $81.27 more in school taxes next year with a homestead exemption and $122.74 more without homestead. That does not count any potential increases coming from Starkville or Oktibbeha County taxes. The request is subject to Oktibbeha Board of Supervisors approval in September. Davis said the board’s hope in keeping the district’s budget tight was to reduce the impact taxes are expected to have for many property owners in the county and city. (https://cdispatch.com/news/socsd-oks-borrowing-101m-for-new-high-school/attachment/davis-sumner-2026/) ()    Sumner Davis    “We’ve really been working to try to make this budget as tight as we possibly can to make sure that we’re as best possible trying to alleviate whatever burden would be on the taxpayer and reduce that request as much as we can to the county,” Davis said. 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