The Copiah-Lincoln Community College board approved the college’s wellness efforts Thursday afternoon.

In separate actions, the board approved the opportunity for employees to participate in the Wolf Pack Wellness Initiative and approved the acceptance of the $251,310 grant from Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Mississippi Foundation.

Employees will be able to track their health goals as part of the program. It will also include three hours per week of release time to those employees. Co-Lin President Ronnie Nettles said it would be treated as if the employees were enrolled in any class on campus.

The board also wanted to discuss the technical aspects of the grant. Some concerns included whether or not it would cost the school any additional money.

“It’s our favorite kind of grant,” Nettles responded.

The school has already received the check and will not have to wait for reimbursements like many other grants. Also, the grant does not require the school to match any amount.

The board also discussed refinancing a lease-purchase agreement on energy equipment. The agreement has 7.5 years left on it and approximately $2 million. All-American originally held the agreement but sold it to Bank of America. All-American has approached Co-Lin officials with the opportunity to refinance at a lower rate of just over 2 percent. Preliminary numbers suggest the school would have over $100,000 in savings.

The board will allow officials to discuss with All-American and search for more information. Among the board’s concerns were whether or not hidden fees would negate the savings. The board will be presented with the new information before any formal action is taken.

The next board meeting will be March 5 at the Natchez campus. The Co-Lin Jazz Band will perform at 11 a.m. in the Nelson Multipurpose room. A luncheon will follow at 12 p.m. in the Activity Room in the Academic Building. The board meeting will begin at 1 p.m. in the Library Conference Room.

The board also discussed the following:

• The retirement of Marguerite Carol Puryear Ford, mathematics/computer science division chair and mathematics instructor, Vicki Mathews, Spanish instructor, and Shaw Furlow, director of bands, Carolyn Vance Smith, co-chairman of the Natchez Literary and Cinema Celebration.

• Spring enrollment is slightly up with ten more students across the district. Nettles said with enrollment from 2014 increasing in the fall and spring, he believes the slide in enrollment over the previous few years has stopped.

• The chemistry lab has been renovated with new equipment.

• The Natchez Literary and Cinema Celebration will be held on Feb. 27 and 28.