Court weighing decision concerning Chevron tax money

[Resent id=12652451 2011-09-16 15:03:49 from mississippipep] » Mississippi Business Journal: msbusiness.com/2011/09/court-weighing-decision-con…money

JACKSON COUNTY — Pascagoula School District leaders said the double whammy of drastically reduced state funding and potential loss of revenue from major industry will cause home and business owners’ property taxes to go up.

Property tax is not going up this year, but the district said should they not prevail in a case being weighed by the Mississippi Supreme Court, that will definitely change.

In order for the school district to avoid such measures as job cuts, that could mean an increase of four to five mills each year for the next several years, board member Dan Marks said during a presentation this week.

An extra mill equals about $10 in annual taxes for each $100,000 of a home’s worth.

Stemming from a 2007 law, the dispute pits the school district and the city of Pascagoula on one side and Jackson County, Moss Point and Ocean Springs school districts on the other. It requires that tax revenue from expansions at Chevron and a new liquefied natural gas terminal be divided, based on student population, among all districts in the county. Pascagoula encompasses schools in Gautier.

Over two years, reductions in state funding and decreased Chevron and LNG revenue would take a $2.8 million bite out of school district revenue, Marks said.

Well over half is from the industrial expansions.
“We cannot sustain these losses,” board member Mike Concannon said.

The district and city appealed the law, but the appeal was denied by a Jones County judge. In July, the court granted both sides the opportunity to submit additional arguments.

Both sides did so and are awaiting the court’s decision.

#Mississippi #Pascagoula #School #District #taxes #spending #Supreme #Court

More “Star” schools shine on latest Mississippi report card

- WLOX-TV and www.WLOX.com – The News for South Mississippi: www.wlox.com/story/15455932/more-star-schools-shin…-card

SOUTH MISSISSIPPI (WLOX) -
More “Star” schools shine on latest Mississippi report card

It is the latest report card on Mississippi schools. On Tuesday, the state Department of Education posted the unofficial ratings for each school district and school in Mississippi.

The 2011 Accountability Results show more Mississippi schools reaching “Star” status, and fewer that are “Failing.”

Every school district in Mississippi wants to be a “Star”, which is the highest rating. To earn that, each has to score at least 200 on the Quality Distribution Index. The QDI looks at several factors, like the latest state test scores, graduation rates, and drop-out numbers.

Based on the preliminary results, four districts in the state made the grade. At the head of the class is the Pass Christian School District. It ranks number one in the state for the third year in a row. Pass Christian is also the only school district in Mississippi with all four of its schools making “Star” status.

#Mississippi #Education #South #Mississippi #Pass #Christian #DOE

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Students offered robust options at tech school

| Hattiesburg American | www.hattiesburgamerican.com: www.hattiesburgamerican.com/article/20110907/NEWS0…70314

Career technical students in the Lamar County School District will be the first in the state to have a chance to work with wind and solar power.

In 2012, the district becomes the only one in Mississippi to offer a course in Alternative Technologies. The course is one of two new classes for the 2012-13 school year under the leadership of the Lamar County Center for Technical Education’s new director Tina Byrd.

Also in store for students is a new Culinary Arts course, to be offered at Oak Grove High School.

"This is not your parents’ vo-tech anymore," Byrd said. "What it’s all about is giving students a more robust set of options."

The new courses – both two years in length – will be complemented by the Center’s other offerings of Health Services I & II, Construction Technology, Metal Fabrication and Teacher Academy.

"We’re interested in producing well-rounded students by helping them to achieve career and technical skills as well as academic skills," Byrd said.

The Alternative Technologies program will take the place of the center’s current two-year electronics program.

#Mississippi #Education #Lamar #County #Technical #Education #Oak #Grove #High #School

Backpacks donated to homeless students

- WLBT 3 – Jackson, MS:: www.wlbt.com/story/15339710/backpacks-donated-to-h…dents

JACKSON, MS (WLBT) -
Officials from "Feed the Children" made a big delivery in the Capital City Friday morning.

The organization’s truck dropped off boxes and boxes of backpacks, school supplies and other essentials to the Mississippi Department of Education building. The items are being donated to homeless students across the state. Over the next couple of days, volunteers will fill the backpacks up. The items will be distributed to school districts next week.

Barbara Greene, the State Homeless Coordinator says "the Mississippi Department of Education, what we’d like to do is eliminate any barriers that homeless students might have to gaining access to education and some of the basic needs can be barriers if we don’t have school supplies, if we don’t have toiletries then we’re not getting the full benefits of what Mississippi has."

Nearly 2,000 backpacks were donated. It’s estimated there are more than 8,000 homeless students in the Magnolia State.

#Mississippi #Education #Homelessness #children #school #supplies #DOE