Pearl River County School board receives budget preview

The Pearl River County School Board held a budget workshop prior to Thursday’s regularly scheduled meeting that detailed the proposed budget for the upcoming 2020-2021 school year.

District Business Manager T.J. Burleson (standing in the photo) pointed out that Governor Tate Reeves vetoed the latest education bill on Wednesday and that bill would have a funding number for the PRC school district from the MAEP allocation.

With the veto, the district is still in limbo on what the actual number will be until a bill is put in place and signed by Governor Reeves. Burleson said his budget was based on the funding total in that budget that would have given the PRC school district $17,180,000, an increase of $160,121 from the previous year.

Burleson presented the proposed budget with revenue and expenditures of $24,247,500.

Burleson said the district will begin the year with an estimated fund balance of $4.8 million which includes the 7 percent unreserved balance of $1.7 million per board policy. Burleson said the district should be able to maintain the unreserved fund balance at $3.1 million at the end of the year based on the estimated funding from the state at this point.

The district will received ad valorem revenue of $7,458,000 which represents a millage of 64.09, up from 63.31 the previous year. The increase is impacted by the bond issuance related to the construction of new and renovation of existing properties and buildings in the school district.

As part of the new construction, Burleson presented to additions to the budget for classroom furniture with $60,000 designated for the Elementary School, $88,000 for the Middle School, and $65,000 for the High School. These expenditures cannot be purchased using the money from the bond revenue according to Burleson.

One expenditure noted in the additions by Burleson, which was approved later in the board meeting, was the purchase of hands-free non-contact forehead body infrared thermometers. Burleson said the units will be positioned on buses and school entrances to allow temperature scans without the need of personnel administering the scan and will also keep historical information on the scans.