Brookhaven School District officials Tuesday presented a $27.6 million new year budget that anticipates almost $200,000 less in spending and no property tax increase for citizens.

     “We made some wise choices with the people’s money,” said Superintendent Dr. Lisa Karmacharya following a lightly attended public hearing at the district’s central office.

     Susan Quin, director of finance, expected new year revenue and expenditures to be down $193,571 from the current year.

     On the revenue side, Quin said the $11.8 million the district is expecting from the state as its Mississippi Adequate Education Program allocation is down almost $147,000. The budget anticipates $8.76 million from local property taxes, with additional supporting revenue coming from other local, state and federal sources.

     During Tuesday’s hearing, Karmacharya provided an update on enrollment trends, activities at individual district schools and expenditures.

     The district is predicting an overall slight increase in total enrollment, from 2,905 to 2,921, in the new school year. Most of the schools are expecting steady or slight declines in enrollment while Martin is forecast for an increase from 779 this year to 834 next year.

     Regarding Martin, Karmacharya touted a plan to provide teachers assistants in all grades between kindergarten and second grade. She said the additions will come at no cost to the district as personnel from Brookhaven Elementary School has been shifted to Martin.

     Among other school highlights mentioned, a health teacher was added last year at Alexander Junior High School to begin laying the groundwork for this year’s sex education classes. Under a new state law, district leaders last year adopted an abstinence-only policy for instruction.

     “That will take full effect this year,” Karmacharya said.

     Previous reports and studies have called for a review of operations and activities at Mullins Alternative School. The superintendent touched on that topic last night.

     “Mullins continues to be an incredibly expensive investment in terms of cost to the district,” she said.

     At around $500,000 a year for about 12 students a month, Karmacharya said Mullins is the second-largest investment in per-student costs in the district. She said addressing that situation will present challenges but also opportunities for district leaders.

     At $1 million a year for approximately 100 students, Karmacharya said the Career Technical Center is the district’s most costly program. She said changes have begun, including dropping courses that were not productive and adding new courses based on feedback from state education officials and Copiah-Lincoln Community College.

     Discussing new year personnel expenditures, Karmacharya pointed out a number of employee moves and salary adjustments that netted savings of approximately $100,000.

     “Savings in one area allowed us to reallocate resources in another,” the superintendent said.

     In other budget moves, Quin said the district was able to realize more savings in the facility maintenance area. On spending, she said the district factored in 10 percent more for fuel purchases, an increase for insurance costs and a required bump in the amount the district pays in matching funds for employees’ state retirement plans.

     The hearing concluded with no comments from audience members. School board members are expected to approve the budget for the new year, which begins July 1, at their June 19 meeting.