Fans of the Gentry Rams and Ruleville Tigers may soon be supporting their teams in style.
Dr. Adrian Brown, of Brown & Associates, announced this week to the Sunflower County Consolidated School District board his plans to pre-sell 300 vanity license plates for each of the county’s high schools, with a large portion of the proceeds going back to each school.
The program is being run through Yalobusha Chariities, a nonprofit.
The tags will sell for $31, according to Brown, and $24 of that will go back into each respective school to support a number of causes, including but not limited to, academic scholarships for graduating seniors, athletics programs, academic programs and school facility improvements.
Brown, who has been working on the project since 2014, said he must sell 300 in the pre-sale period in order for the Mississippi Department of Revenue to put the tags into circulation.
“Both high schools, Gentry and Ruleville, will now have an additional pot of funds to be used for academics and athletics,” Brown told The E-T this week.
Brown said the idea was first floated when the school systems consolidated into one in 2014, but he said the leadership at that time thought it would be best if the project were run by an independent organization.
Brown said that a local designer designed the tags over the course of the last few months. He said that once the pre-sale period is complete, a committee will be formed at each school to determine annually how the money will be dispersed.
Brown said before the plates are put into circulation by the department of revenue, a detailed accounting, plus all of the funds raised, must be turned in to the agency.
Shanice Duncan and Lisa Boatwright have taken the lead on the sales end, Brown said.
Those wishing to purchase a tag can contact Duncan at 662-207-4161.
They will also be selling the tags when Ruleville plays Gentry in basketball tomorrow night.
Applications will also be available at the central office building of the school district, as well as at the tax collector’s office at the Sunflower County Courthouse.
