The Covington County School Board of Education passed a $28.6 million budget at its regularly-scheduled meeting on Tuesday night.

The school system’s new budget is for fiscal year 2015, which spans from Oct. 1, 2014 to Sept. 30, 2015.

Expenditures for the budget increased $542,000 from fiscal year 2014, Chief School Finance Officer Ressie Gray said.

“The increase is primarily due to instructional and instructional support services,” she said. “This is for salaries and benefits.”

Other expenditures include $19.5 million for reserved instructional and instructional support services; $2.2 million for operation and maintenance; $4.2 million for auxiliary services (transportation and child nutrition program); $1.2 million for general administrative services; and $1.5 million for capital outlay and debt services and other expenditures.

Total revenues for Covington County Schools is anticipated to be approximately $28.3 million for the new budget year.

Gray said the total anticipated revenues for the new budget year is approximately $146,000 less than last year’s budget.

“This decrease is as a result of a decline in local revenue and cuts in our federal and state allocations,” she said. “Of the funds budgeted, 65 percent is from state funds, 10 percent is from federal funds and the remaining 25 percent is from local tax revenues and other sources.”

The exact revenue figure Gray is referring to is set at $28,373,509.87, according to the budget report.

Gray also reported that the state student material allocation is $310 per student, which is an increase of $10M last year.

Projected student enrollment is right at 3,137, with 390 projected as number of employees.

County board member Jimmy Rodgers asked whether the revenue totals were “less” than last year’s budget total, to which Gray said that last year’s revenues anticipated were $28.5 million and the expenditures were at $28.1 million.

CCS Superintendent Shannon Driver said the board believes this is a good budget, and added that the system was still able to provide a budget to give schools all they need including maintenance and janitorial supplies and professional development.

“Our teachers have good supply money from both the state and then from some of our local contributions that some of our businesses have made,” Driver said. “So, our teachers are in good shape. We’re glad for that.”

In other business, the board:

• was presented the audit report for the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30, 2013;

• appointed Pamela Rabren as the authoritative member of the Sick Leave Bank Committee for the 2014-15 school year;

• approved the employment of Marsha Kerri Bradley as lunchroom worker at Pleasant Home School;

• accepted the resignation of Theresa A. Williams as bus driver at Red Level High School;

• approved the employment of Brandi Marie Lee as bus driver at RLHS;

• granted continuing status to Jacqueline Williams Dubose; and,

• distributed financial reports.

The next board meeting is set for Oct. 7 at 5:30 p.m.