PURVIS, Miss. (AP) - Lamar County School District officials are moving forward with hiring and other preparations so that Longleaf Elementary School in Oak Grove will be fully staffed and ready to open in August.

Longleaf Elementary is still under construction. It is located just west of Hattiesburg.

The school will house 750 students in grades kindergarten through fifth grade. It will help reduce crowding at Oak Grove Primary, Oak Grove Lower Elementary and Oak Grove Upper Elementary Schools.

The Hattiesburg American reports (http://hatne.ws/TSxuPI ) Principal Angela McCarty and Lamar County School District Superintendent Ben Burnett are currently in the process of hiring teachers for the school.

Burnett said transfer requests will be accepted until Nov. 1.

Information from: The Hattiesburg American, http://www.hattiesburgamerican.com

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