Picayune School District’s Board of Trustees approved the next fiscal year’s budget during a meeting held Tuesday night.

Outgoing Finance Director Lisa Persick said the total assessed valuation within the district has increased, from $186 million in the 2020-2021 fiscal year to $189 million during the 2021-2022 fiscal year.

As for the grant funding that came as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, it totaled $19 million, from both the Coronavirus Aid Relief and Economic Security and the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief. She said that funding was used to help pay for teacher assistants salaries and benefits. Those totals do not include grants or reimbursement provided to Early Head Start and to cover the expenses involved in buying cleaning supplies and masks due to COVID respectively.

Within the next year’s budget Persick said she included funds to cover the purchases of two Dodge Durangos for the School Resource officers, one of which is a replacement needed after the previous vehicle was damaged in collision, and the second is needed for the additional resource officer position approved by the Board earlier this year.

Staff and administration raises were also included in the budget. Persick added that Superintendent Dean Shaw declined the $3,000 per year raise for all administrators.

Hourly employees all received a .75 raise per hour.

Persick did advise the Board that positions funded through the COVID grant funding will either have to be cut or added to the general budget when the funds run out, she said.

Construction of new safety entrances to all campuses was also included in the budget, to be paid by ESSER funds.

Persick said the fund balance for the district will be at a total of $2.4 million at the start of July of this year and is expected to be $1.9 million by the end of the next fiscal year.

In total, the Budget will plan for a total revenue of $63 million, which will include $11 million in local funding, $18 million in state funding, $27 million in federal funding and about $5.7 million in other financing.

Expenses are planned to come in at $26 million to cover instruction, $19.7 million for support services, $3.6 million for non instructional, $4.7 million for construction and $ 7.6 million for other finance needs.

Even though the budget has increased, Persick said the increase in assessed valuations combined with the COVID grant money will mean the taxpayers should not see an increase in the ad valorem taxes, especially since the district is already at its cap of 55 mills.

Persick is retiring from employment with the School District before the start of the new school year. Her replacement will be Micah Necaise.