After an accident involving an employee and a student that did not have a driver’s license or insurance last year, Natchez High School is changing its vehicle policy.

Beginning Aug. 20, all students who drive to school must have verification of their driver’s license and vehicle insurance. They will also be assigned a parking place and a vehicle decal.

&uot;Things like that happen for a reason, and I think that brought it to our attention that we need to do a better job of monitoring that type of stuff on our campuses,&uot; said Superintendent Dr. Carl Davis.

The new policy insures that only students who are qualified to drive do so, officials said.

&uot;We’re doing this to make sure all students are safe here on campus,&uot; said Natchez High School Principal Bobby Brown.

It also helps the school district better control which vehicles enter the campus and where they park.

&uot;We don’t want anyone to park in student parking, faculty parking or the multipurpose building (parking lot) who should not be there,&uot; Brown said.

And if the first day of school Thursday is any indication, the new policy is necessary.

With the help of its new student resource officers – police officers who work on school campuses – the school caught several students who drove to school Thursday and Friday without insurance, and one without a driver’s license.

Officer Lee Ford said he issued tickets, but converted them to warnings when the students had insurance by the next day.

&uot;We’re trying to (enforce the policy) with good sense,&uot; Davis said.

New policies pertaining to vehicles also affect teachers and school staff.

Because of changes in the district’s insurance policy, employees must follow guidelines similar to that of the students if they drive a district vehicle, attend a workshop or attend to business for the district in their vehicle. This includes staff that travel from school to school as part of their regular duties. &uot;For you to be able to get refunds for those miles you put in from campus to campus you have to have a valid driver’s license and show that you have insurance on your vehicle,&uot; Davis said.

These employees must also have the Adams County Sheriff’s Department run a record of their driving history to be kept on file for the school district.