by Hannah Allen
Tuesday afternoon, the Pass Christian Board of Trustees held their first meeting since the closing of the school district for summer vacation. Hosted at Delisle Elementary, the board met to discuss the budget for the 2019/2020 school year and announce changes that will incur during the upcoming year.
Work on the upcoming budget dates back to February, with workshops and public hearings occurring throughout the following months.
According to information disseminated at the meeting, “the total anticipated revenues for 2019-2020 are $24,259,283”. A culmination of Federal, State and Local requests are used to subsidize these necessary school costs. The local request is the “largest source of revenue for the Pass Christian School District” and it accounts for 48% of the overall needed funds.
The local support for the fiscal year is $10,857,273—which is a $270,000 increase from last year. This is due to the property value or “assess valuation” increase. Much of these costs are utilized for the employee salary and district maintenance, however, this aid also goes toward school meals and aiding children with disabilities.
In the upcoming school year, Pass Christian—along with all other schools in Mississippi—is mandated to increase teacher salaries. While the state mandate is $1500, Pass Christian is electing to go “above and beyond” and increase teacher salaries an extra $750 dollars, bringing the total increase to $2250.
However, the increase in salary is not the only change announced for the Pass Christian School District. The school board of trustees elected to change the school’s insurance policy to Total Health Insurance, a long-term fiscally responsible option.
Other changes include new positions that have been filled in order to better serve the children of Pass Christian. Rather than using contract Nurses for the upcoming school year, the district will be increasing the number of nurses available to four. Psychometrist Rymsky Labat will now be working for the school district and will handle “administering and interpreting achievement and intellectual tests” for the upcoming 2019-2020 school year.
Finally, long time Special Services director, Doris Flettrich, will be retiring at the end of June. Her associate Rob French will take over as the new director in the upcoming year.
