TYLERTOWN — The Walthall County School District has steadily improved its financial position over the past several years.
Figures presented to the district board by business officer Marcy Hartzog on Oct. 17 show that the district’s operations and maintenance fund balance, which is the difference between assets and liabilities, fell from 2010-11 to 2014-15, then rebounded somewhat.
In 2010-11, the district’s fund balance was about $4.2 million. That figure had dropped to about $1.1 million by 2014-15, but was back up to about $3.6 million by the end of the 2016-17 fiscal year that ended in July.
Government agencies are advised to carry at least a 7 percent fund balance in case of emergency, Superintendent Wade Carney told board members, while Walthall’s current fund balance is a bit more than 20 percent.
The district’s cash balance now stands at more than $4 million, Hartzog said.
Some of that money may be used soon to buy more buses.
“We have 10 buses over 10 years old,” Carney said. “Two more go out (more than 10 years old) this year. We got behind (replacing buses) when we didn’t have money earlier. We need to get aggressive on bus purchases.”
While the district needs new buses, it also needs new drivers. Carney and Rusty Martin, the district’s transportation director, said the district still needs a couple of full-time drivers for bus routes.
In other business:
• In a discussion on district policies, board member Jeffre Conerly asked about the consequences for teachers who are late for work.
“I’m ready to go to a clock system, even for certified personnel, and we may move to that,” Carney said.
Board member Deloris Breland repeated Conerly’s question.
“Can you fire teachers who are consistently late? Can you move them somewhere else?” she asked.
Board attorney Conrad Mord said officials should recognize that things happen occasionally to prevent employees from being on time, but “if they are consistently late, you should do something.
“You have to have a specific reason, and if you’re terminating them, you have to document the reason.”
“I want what y’all want, which is efficient schools,” Carney told the board. “If a teacher is not present, that’s something a principal should handle, and if they don’t, it irks me.”
Conerly said citizens bring issues at all the schools to his attention, including personnel who are late.
“A lot of people would be fired, if I was in charge,” he said.
• The board approved supplements to teachers from state funding awarded to schools that improved by a letter grade or more on the state rating scale.
The about $40,000 award was split among 25 teachers still at Tylertown Elementary School from the 2015-16 school year, when the rating improvement occurred.
• The district engaged Kimberly Alford to prepare financial reports.
• Dawn Meyers resigned her position at Dexter Elementary School.
• The board hired Ryan Murphy to replace Brian Smith at Salem Attendance Center, and Susan Thomas to replace Meyers. Gwen Saucier at Tylertown Primary School was upgraded from substitute to certified teacher.
• Carney reported 12 students in GED and per-GED classes and eight students in alternative school.
Enrollment for the year stands at 1,861, and daily attendance averages 95.5 percent.
Suspensions during September totaled 76 at Tylertown High School, three at Tylertown Elementary School and 12 at Salem Attendance Center. No suspensions were reported at Tylertown Primary School or Dexter Elementary School.
