By Taylor Welsh
Picayune Item

Monday afternoon, the Pearl River County School District Board of Trustees held a meeting to approve a budget amendment for a concession stand and restroom, approved a donation for numerous technology items for Pearl River Central Middle School and approved the monthly financial reports.
The Board approved a motion to go into their fund balance to support the construction of a new concession stand and restrooms where the current concession stand is located. It will cost the district $35,000.
“The new concession will be bigger than the last and will provide restrooms near the football field. The concessions will be extended, providing more space,” Business Administrator T.J. Burleson said.
Superintendent Alan Lumpkin said he is excited about the addition, the beginning of another school year and the upcoming football season.
“It was almost scary how smooth the beginning of this year went. I told a couple of people that it was probably the most smooth beginning in a while,” Lumpkin said. “We are excited about our new hires and also the beginning of another great year of football.”
The district usually rents the concession stand to the athletic booster club to help finance the district’s athletics program.
Also, the Board accepted a donation from the Mississippi State University Terms Grant for Alternate Route Teachers worth $10,058. This donation will be used by teachers PRCMS sixth grade science teachers Ms. Marie Floyd and Mrs. Lauren Lossett.
Each teacher will receive a laptop, worth $1,655; document camera, worth $1,675; printer, scanner and copier, worth $119; projector, worth $576.73; ipad, valued at $299; swivel, valued at $550; wireless mouse, valued at $23; adobe software, valued at $76; and laptop case, valued at $45. All of this equipment will be used for classroom purposes only.
“We are honored to have great teachers for our students in the district. We will continue to strive for excellence as a whole,” Lumpkin said.
Lumpkin said he wanted to congratulate everyone involved in the “B” grade the school district received the past year for overall accountability performance.
“At the Upper Elementary School we were ninth in the state for the third grade reading assessment,” Lumpkin said. “Also, we have eight CTE programs ranked in the top 10 in the state. A lot of great things happened from last year, but now it is in the past. Now we must look forward and continue to add on to those amazing accomplishments.”
During the meeting, the Board also approved the monthly financial items and reports, which will be covered in Wednesday’s edition of the Picayune Item.
The next Pearl River County School Board meeting will be on September 12.