Tuesday, July 28, 2020, 7:47 pm News Flash Archive

Tuesday afternoon, the widely-anticipated public hearing on the Greenwood Leflore County Consolidated School District 2021 FY budget was held at 5:30.

But the hearing could not be heard, because the school's "live stream" had no intelligible audio for the entire 47 minutes of the hearing.

Incredibly, Board President Samantha Milton stated that nobody who appeared before the Board was permitted to ask any questions of anyone, but only make comments about the budget.

The budget hearing was advertised as required by state law, but citizens were informed that they could attend by "viewing" the live stream on the school district's website, but the words spoken at the meeting could not be understood due to failure of the audio to be broadcast correctly.

The hearing was important because the school board is proposing a 5% increase in local school property taxes for the upcoming year, with its budget ballooning from $51 million to $61 million, this in spite of continuing declines in enrollment over the past 5 years. Daily Average Attendance is expected to sink below 4,200 students in the upcoming year.

Only one citizen, George Whitten Jr., appeared to address the Board.

Video of the budget hearing, with complete audio, may be seen here: School District Public Hearing on the Budget

The PowerPoint presentation provided by the School District may be viewed here: School Budget Hearing Presentation Note: the copy provided to The Taxpayers Channel was of low resolution and slightly truncated on the right hand margin.

John Pittman Hey
The Taxpayers Channel

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