SOCSD delays student start date to Aug. 24 Peasant Classes will start Aug. 24 in the Starkville-Oktibbeha Consolidated School District, Superintendent Eddie Peasant announced Friday, instead of Aug. 6 as originally planned, in order to prepare teachers for an unexpectedly high number of students who will learn through the district’s virtual option. The district had 2,000 students signed up for virtual learning before July 21 and has received more than 1,000 more requests since then from parents wanting to switch their children to that model, Peasant said in a press release. This adds up to more than 40 percent of students in virtual learning environments, and the district had only been prepared to accommodate 25 percent, he said.