Greenville schools must account for more than $4 million — and resolve a possible budget deficit

By Leonardo Bevilacqua | Originally published by Mississippi Today

GREENVILLE — Greenville Public School District has until Tuesday to return roughly $4 million in pandemic relief money if leaders can’t account for how it was spent. 

The Mississippi Department of Education says it needs additional documentation to ensure the federal grant was spent the way it was intended. The school district can request an extension as it gathers paperwork.

The district faces a similar demand from the Internal Revenue Service for $500,000. Regulators found that information on taxes withheld from employee salaries was not submitted properly during the COVID-19 pandemic.

District leaders discussed both demand letters, as well as current and future financial challenges, at an April 30 school board meeting. While the district has over $6 million dedicated to diminishing short-term debt, Superintendent llean Richards expressed a desire to keep that money available for disasters.

The demand letters come as district leaders are also addressing a $1.5 million deficit as of April 30, two months before the end of the budget year. Board President Antoinette Williams said she expects tax collections due in May and June to cover that shortfall. 

“We’ve got to stay afloat financially,” Richards said. “I’m presenting this to the board for them to understand why I’m asking you to do certain things.”

“It’s my understanding they asked for that before I came here, but they never received that. So now they’ve given us the second chance,” said Richards, who was appointed superintendent in January 2025. 

Richards said she’s also concerned that the district regularly gets notices about debt the district owes — large amounts.

“They’re not talking about $500, all these millions of dollars,” Richards said. “And we’ve got to get this stuff cleaned up, hopefully by the new year.”

The district faces challenges that could impact future budgets, such as declining enrollment that could decrease its state funding allocation and inflation that has increased the cost of fuel for buses 

Board members also discussed rising costs for school construction projects, which were jump-started with pandemic relief funding. Work on the Greenville Technical Center is over 452 days late and possibly $200,000 more expensive.

Bad weather days and supply shortages for materials are driving up the costs, said Greg Durrell, the architect overseeing those projects. Aging infrastructure at district buildings required more extensive rewiring, he said.

The district struggled to account for its construction-related purchases, according to its 2024 financial audit. Former district leaders struggled to keep track of what the district owed construction teams. Also, the district’s ledger did not always accurately reflect purchases.

“We’ve got to look at the fact that there was poor leadership and some things were not done well, and that is why we’re in the situation that we may be facing,” said Allison Washington, secretary of the school board.

Despite many challenges that lie ahead for the district, school board members, contractors and alumni say they are optimistic. Richards has expressed an interest in solving each issue with meticulous research, they say.

“I’m inheriting this, and I’m trying to justify to you why we need to make a change to stay afloat financially,” Richards said during a recent meeting ahead of a June budget hearing. “I’m not saying that you all haven’t discussed it, but you didn’t discuss it with me.”

Richards was hired in part because of her experience working in other Mississippi Delta school districts in school districts in Leflore, Leland and Coahoma County.

Richards cited poor prior fiscal management and higher-than-expected health insurance costs as some reasons district spending exceeded the budget this school year. 

Staff absences are another problem, she said, with the district spending roughly $136,000 on substitute teachers since August. About 900 staff absences have occurred so far this school year, with roughly 12 at Greenville High School on one day. Richard tied those absences to the district’s academic performance.

“We are not going to be a C or a B or an A if teachers are not here to teach,” Richards said. “On any given day at our high school, they can’t even have class when 10 or 12 people are out there because they don’t have anybody to keep the children, and that’s unacceptable.” 

A budget hearing is scheduled for June 17 at the Manville Curriculum Center. Board member Drew Newsom said staff cuts and school consolidations could be solutions to balance a future budget.

This article was originally published by Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

Source: Original Article