NATCHEZ &8212; The Boys & Girls Club will be back in the Natchez public schools next month.

The clubs &8212; at McLaurin and Morgantown Elementary schools last year &8212; didn&8217;t open in the schools this year. Superintendent Anthony Morris said he wanted to review the effectiveness of the clubs against the district&8217;s mission.

&8220;One of the major reasons is because we really had to reevaluate the emphasis on academics,&8221; Morris said at Thursday&8217;s school board meeting. &8220;We have to try to do everything we can to pull the (test) scores up.&8221;

The Boys & Girls Club of the Miss-Lou expanded last year, opening the on-school sites. Previously, they were only at the Thompson School site.

Last year, students at McLaurin and Morgantown who were club members would stay after school for tutoring, games and a snack time.

&8220;We had to refocus on the academic component,&8221; Morris said. &8220;We had concerns about the pupil to teacher ratio. We revisited the whole program.&8221;

And Thursday the board signed off on a new agreement between both parties. The clubs will open again on Dec. 4.

The school district will provide space, staff and curriculum. The fiscal management will be a joint effort. And the Boys & Girls Club will provide site management.

&8220;This is an agreement in line with district goals,&8221; Morris said.

Some Title I funds from the school district will be directed toward the program. District funds will specifically be used for academic tutors and the unit director position.

The goal for student to teacher ratios is 10 to 1.

Projected enrollment for McLaurin is 150 and for Morgantown is 180.

In other business:

The school board accepted the resignation of Human Resources Manager Beverly Raines. Raines and her family are moving out of town due to her husband&8217;s job. She has held the position for three years.