LIBERTY — Royalties from the Tuscaloosa Marine Shale play on Amite County 16th Section land could be the only way the county school district will be able to address infrastructure needs that are long overdue.
Superintendent Scotty H. Whittington said that with cash beginning to flow in, the school board of trustees drafted a capital improvement plan to address outdated and dilapidated school infrastructure at the elementary and high schools. If approved, the improvement plans will represent the most ambitious school funding request since the TMS play began.
“I know people are wondering where is the money going? Well, there’s a process that takes some time. But now we are beginning to see what we are dealing with,” Whittington said.
In the plans, the board will request an upgrade in the air-conditioning system from window units to a mini-split system, roof repair work to the south wing, auditorium and gymnasium of the high school, and replacement of floor tile in sections of the school.
Roof repairs alone account for close to a million dollars, Whittington said.
“We haven’t made repairs since the 1950s. We haven’t been able to replace anything, either. We just haven’t had the money to be able to do so,” Whittington said.
Cuts in education funding from the state has left county schools in bad shape, board business manager Tommy Felter said. “Just about all schools in the state have suffered from funding cuts. We aren’t the only ones, but this is what has prevented us from making improvements in the past.”
Since 2008, funding for the school district has been cut by just under 3.5 million dollars, or roughly $627.000 a year. This is a result of the Mississippi Board of Education’s switch to a new formula that determines school funding amounts, Whittington said.
“The state determines how much money a school district will get based on attendance averages taken two months out of the year. The new formula then determines what they believe to be ‘adequate’ funding per student for the district,” said Whittington.
Part of the formula is based on daily attendance averages which can vary from enrollment totals.While the total number of students in the district i s 1065, the state only considers 999 students based on this new system,” Felter said.
With less money coming in from the state, school officials consider the TMS royalties a welcome relief.
So far, the school district has 18 wells under lease, totalling $6.5 million. Sanchez Oil of Houston, Texas, is the most recent company to sign a lease; they intend to drill on 16-Section land southeast of Gloster.
For wells outside of 16-Section land, a six percent severance tax is taken from oil and gas royalties by the Mississippi Department of Revenue. On school property, producing wells are not taxed.
The school receives 1/5 or 20 percent of royalties from these wells. This equates to $40,000 a month of revenue for the school board. That amount is expected to increase as more wells are drilled.
Despite the increase in revenue, Whittington’s longterm goal is still out of reach at this time. “It costs $15 to $35 million to build a new school. That’s still a ways off. But it’s one of my goals,” said Whittington.
The capital improvement plan will be presented at the next school board meeting July 10.
