GENERAL INFORMATION

Rankin County School District is the third largest school district in the State of Mississippi, serving
grades kindergarten through twelve with a student population of 19,243. The district consists of
twenty-seven schools in its eight attendance zones. The attendance zones are Brandon,
Florence, McLaurin, Northwest, Pelahatchie, Pisgah, Puckett and Richland.
SCHOOL

GRADES

ENROLLMENT

BRANDON ATTENDANCE ZONE

ROUSE ELEMENTARY
STONEBRIDGE ELEMENTARY
BRANDON ELEMENTARY
BRANDON MIDDLE

K-1
2-3
4-5
6-8

873
854
834
1,272

BRANDON HIGH
FLORENCE ATTENDANCE ZONE

9-12

1,479

STEENS CREEK ELEMENTARY

K-2

574

FLORENCE ELEMENTARY
FLORENCE MIDDLE
FLORENCE HIGH
McLAURIN ATTENDANCE ZONE

3-5
6-8
9-12

572
597
699

McLAURIN ELEMENTARY
McLAURIN HIGH
NORTHWEST ATTENDANCE ZONE

K-6
7-12

681
540

FLOWOOD ELEMENTARY
HIGHLAND BLUFF ELEMENTARY
NORTHWEST ELEMENTARY
NORTHSHORE ELEMENTARY

K-6
K-6
K-6
K-6

625
837
619
734

OAKDALE ELEMENTARY
NORTHWEST RANKIN MIDDLE
NORTHWEST RANKIN HIGH
PELAHATCHIE ATTENDANCE ZONE

K-6
7-8
9-12

624
907
1,630

PELAHATCHIE ELEMENTARY
PELAHATCHIE HIGH
PISGAH ATTENDANCE ZONE

K-6
7-12

470
345

PISGAH ELEMENTARY
PISGAH HIGH
PUCKETT ATTENDANCE ZONE

K-6
7-12

422
371

PUCKETT ELEMENTARY
PUCKETT HIGH

K-6
7-12

380
356

RICHLAND ATTENDANCE ZONE

RICHLAND ELEMENTARY

K-2

485

RICHLAND UPPER ELEMENTARY

RICHLAND HIGH

3-6
7-12

588
875

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Over the last five years, the district's enrollment has increased approximately 1,200 students.
The district estimates an increase of 100 students for fiscal year 2015.
The district employs a staff of 3,400 that consists of teachers, aides, administrators, office
personnel, cafeteria workers, bus drivers, maintenance workers and other district employees. Of
the 1,439 certified teachers employed, 746 (52%) have ten or more years of teaching experience
and 676 (47%) have advanced degrees. In addition, the district has 158 national board certified
teachers.
The district has the lowest ad valorem tax rate of any of the seven metro Jackson area school
districts (see page 28). The district is one of only a few districts in the state of Mississippi that
has an AA financial bond rating from Standard and Poors national rating service. This rating
reflects the districts strong financial position and sound financial management. In addition, the
district has the fourth lowest administrative cost percentage (1.86%) of the 151 school districts in
Mississippi.
The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) requires districts to issue school level report cards
containing information on the following:
School Improvement Status: Schools that fail to make annual measurable
objectives (AMO) must be identified for school improvement.
Teacher Qualifications: Highly qualified teachers are those who hold full state
certification in core academic subjects and are teaching in their endorsement
areas.
Test Data: Test data must be reported for specific subgroups, two-year trends,
and student participation rates.
In the districts Report Card for 2012-2013:
District Accreditation Status: Accredited
District State Accountability Label: A-Star
District met growth for 2012-2013.
87% of the districts schools met their Annual Measurable Objective (AMO) goals.
None of the districts schools were in School Improvement.
Nine of the districts schools were Star schools.
99% of the 954 core academic subject teachers were highly qualified.
98% of the 4,824 NCLB core academic classes were taught by a highly qualified teacher.
The district had an attendance rate of 95%.
The district had a graduation rate of 86%.
In fiscal year 2013, the districts subject area test program results were:
88% success rate on Algebra I test.
88% success rate on the Biology I test.
85% success rate on the English II test.
92% success rate on the U.S. History test.
The districts average on the American College Test (ACT) was 20.2 compared to the state
average of 18.5 for the graduating class of 2013. The senior class of 2013 received scholarship
offers totaling $23,562,418.

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These achievements are due in part to the rich and diverse curriculum available in the district.
The district is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools and the State of
Mississippi. With a teacher to student ratio of 1 to 15, the district offers the traditional required
courses, as well as opportunities for participation in accelerated and advanced placement
courses in the high schools. Electives vary by location and include art, business, technology
discovery, computer science, foreign language, music, and vocational courses. For children with
special needs, a wide range of programs are offered through the special education department.
In addition, resource classes are offered for intellectually gifted students in grades 2-12. Students
interested in vocational-technical training have access to programs offered at local schools and
also to programs available at the Pearl/Rankin Vocational Technical Center at Hinds Community
College.
The district provides an instructional management system that includes the competencies
required in the curriculum frameworks approved by the Mississippi Department of Education.
Additionally, the district provides a curriculum structure designed to achieve a vision of excellence
that reflects and responds to students' needs and abilities. Students are challenged to acquire
skills and attitudes that will enable them to think critically and creatively with knowledge to
function as citizens in a changing society. Participation in accelerated and advanced placement
courses combined with multiple elective choices enhances opportunities for optimum student
achievement.
Extracurricular activities play an important role in the education of the total individual. Diversified
organizations allow students to develop skills in academics, athletics and in the arts. Students
are encouraged to excel individually as well as through team efforts.
The use of technology in the classroom is also a priority for the district. Computers are used as
teaching tools and information sources, and schools are linked to the internet. With a staff of 20
and a state of the art computer lab for teacher training, the district's Technology Department
assists teachers in integrating technology into the classroom to further enhance student
achievement.
All facets of Rankin County School District demonstrate a commitment to continuously improve
the services to its students. The Board of Education, the administration, the teachers, support
staff, students, and community are proud of the achievements thus far in the district.
The following pages contain budgetary information, which shows summaries, charts, amounts,
percentages, etc. of the projected revenues and expenditures of the district for fiscal year 2015.
Also, a detailed budget of all funds is included in this report.

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LEGAL REQUIREMENTS
Section 37-61-9, Mississippi Code Ann. (1972), requires the school board with the assistance of
the superintendent of each school district to prepare a budget of anticipated revenues and
expenditures on or before August 15th for the coming fiscal year, i.e., August 15, 2014, for the
2015 fiscal year. In addition, prior to adoption of the budget, the school board shall hold at least
one public hearing to provide the general public with an opportunity to comment on the taxing and
spending plan incorporated in the proposed budget. The public hearing will be held at 7:30 a.m.
on June 25, 2014 at the Rankin County School District Administrative Office Building, located at
1220 Apple Park Place, Brandon, Mississippi.
This section of law also requires two copies of the budget be filed with the levying authority
(Rankin County Board of Supervisors) for the school district, budget information as required by
the State Department of Education be forwarded to them, and a budget synopsis be published in
the local newspaper.
Section 37-61-21, Mississippi Code Ann. (1972), allows for revisions to the budget during the
fiscal year. Final budget revisions must be approved by the school board on or before October
th
15 of the following fiscal year.

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BUDGET OVERVIEW
The Rankin County School District anticipates revenues of $168,224,348 and expenditures of
$179,502,652 for the fiscal year 2015 (July 1, 2014 to June 30, 2015). These revenues and
expenditures are included in the approximately 70 funds of the district. A list of the district's funds
is included in this report on page 8. A fund is defined as a financial and accounting entity with a
separate set of self-balancing accounts. Some of the major funds that make up the budget are:
District Maintenance .................................. Main operating fund
School Activity ........................................... Maintained at each school
Child Nutrition ............................................ Federal Fund
Title 1 ......................................................... Federal Fund
I.D.E.A. (Special Education) ...................... Federal Fund
Education Enhancement ............................ Monies generated from one-cent tax increase
Capital Projects .......................................... Construction costs
Debt Service .............................................. Used to retire notes and bonds
Sixteenth Section ....................................... Monies generated from leases, royalties,
timber sales and interest earnings on sixteenth
section investments
Of the total anticipated revenue, local sources total $67,389,555 with $58,220,000 of this amount
coming from ad valorem taxes. Revenue from activity funds (funds maintained at each school
location whose main revenue sources consist of admissions to athletic events and activity fund
raising projects) at the schools totals $3,118,425.
State sources totaling $83,540,647 make up the largest revenue item with $75,885,231 coming
from the Mississippi Adequate Education Program. These revenues are used mainly for teacher
salaries. Another state source of revenue is the monies received from the one-cent sales tax
increase of 1992. This projected revenue known as Education Enhancement funds, totals
$697,859 and must be used only for certain legislative mandated items.
Federal sources total $13,673,596. The largest amount of these monies will come from Child
Nutrition ($4,950,000), Title 1 ($2,652,508) and I.D.E.A. ($3,599,550).
Sixteenth section sources consist of leases ($937,300), timber sales ($500,000) and earnings on
investments ($109,750).
Of the total anticipated expenditures, $126,243,084 (70%) is for salaries and employee benefits
(group insurance, social security and retirement contributions). Of this amount, instructional
salaries and employee benefits total $84,920,540. Purchased services, which include payments
to construction contractors, insurance, maintenance, professional services, repairs, telephone,
travel and utilities total $22,248,498 (12% of the budget). Budgeted expenditures for supplies
total $12,586,602 (7% of the budget). Other budgeted expenditures include debt service
payments, equipment and other miscellaneous items.
The schedules and charts in this budget report provide more detailed information on the budgeted
revenues and expenditures of the district.

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BUDGET HIGHLIGHTS
State Funding and Other Funding Issues: The district will receive $75,621,589 in Mississippi
Adequate Education Program (MAEP) funding for operational purposes for fiscal year 2015. The
districts MAEP allocation for fiscal year 2015 is less than full funding by approximately
$9,000,000. For the fiscal years from 2011 to 2014, the district received $36,500,000 less in
MAEP funds than what it should have received had it been fully funded.
Other issues that have affected the districts budget in a negative way in the last few years
include:

Complete loss of the state funded ad valorem tax reduction grant in fiscal year
2013. Prior to fiscal year 2013, the district had received funding from this grant
of approximately $1,500,000 in each year.

Reduction in MAEP funding of approximately $1,000,000 for fiscal year 2015 due
to a decrease in average daily attendance of approximately 300 students. This
decrease in average daily attendance is attributable to slower growth in
enrollment in the district, the new 63% daily attendance rule from the Mississippi
Department of Education and the annexation of students by the Pearl Public
School District.

Due to the decrease in average daily attendance in fiscal year 2014, the district
no longer qualifies as a high growth district under the state law. Therefore, the
district will not receive approximately $600,000 in fiscal year 2015 that it has
received in recent years for being a high growth district.

Partially unfunded mandate of employer retirement contributions in fiscal year

2014. The employer retirement rate was increased by the state from 14.26% to
15.75%. This increased retirement rate costs the district an additional
$1,200,000 and the district only received an additional $600,000 in MAEP
funding in that year.

Total mandated teacher pay raise (including benefits) will cost $2,600,000 in
fiscal year 2015.

Reductions in Budget: To offset not being fully funded from the State, the district will implement
the following budget reductions:

Continue 10% reduction in schools operating budgets

Continue 20% reduction in departments operating budgets
Use sixteenth section funds to supplement budget
Charge indirect cost to federal funds

$140,000
640,000
1,050,000
194,000
$2,024,000

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Personnel Additions and Reductions: The district plans to employ approximately nine
additional teachers and two administrators in fiscal year 2015. The total cost of these additional
employees is $749,000. Funding for the additional personnel will come from state and local
sources.
The district also plans to reduce personnel in a few areas in fiscal year 2015 due to the shortage
in state funding. The total savings in these personnel reductions is $250,000.
Increase in Salaries: The district will increase salaries for teachers and assistant teachers as
required by State law. All other employees with the exception of administrators and supervisory
staff will receive a 2% increase. The additional salary cost including employee benefits are listed
below. These amounts represent the portion paid from the district maintenance fund.
Teachers (increase of 4% to 7%)
Assistant teachers (step increase of approximately 1.50%)
Administrators and supervisory staff (0%)
Noncertified staff (2%)
Custodians (2%)
Bus drivers (2%)

$2,974,000
37,000
0
127,000
43,000
61,000
$3,242,000

Utility Costs: The total budget for utilities is $3,335,000. The utilities budget consists of:
Water
Electricity

$270,000
2,780,000

Natural Gas

285,000
$3,335,000

Retirement and Group Insurance: The cost of the districts portion of group health and group
life insurance will total $8,361,000 and the cost of the districts portion of the retirement
contribution will total $12,643,000.
Purchase of Buses and Service Vehicles: The district plans to spend $675,000 for the
purchase of eight school buses and one Special Education bus. With the purchase of these
buses, the district will have a total bus fleet of 309 buses. The district also plans to purchase one
service truck ($33,000) for the maintenance department and one service truck ($30,000) for the
transportation department.
Education Enhancement Funds: Education Enhancement funds (EEF) are generated from the
one cent sales tax increase that went into effect in 1992. The district will receive $586,352 of
EEF funds to be used for debt payments on a construction note that will be paid off in fiscal year
2018.
The districts certified teachers will receive EEF funds in the form of procurement cards from the
State. Each teacher will be able to spend approximately $375 from the procurement card for
instructional supplies and equipment in the classroom.

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Technology Purchases: The district will lease-purchase approximately 1,200 computers to

update the high school business labs, library computers, teacher computers and classroom
computers. The lease-purchase agreement is for a three year period with a payment of $350,000
in fiscal year 2015.
In addition to the computers above, the district will make several purchases relating to
technology. These purchases include:

Replacement of servers
Replacement of computers

$25,000
100,000

Switches, wireless access points, and UPS battery backups

Online student registration software

274,000
60,000
$459,000

Instructional Expenditures: In addition to the normal recurring expenditures for instruction, the
district plans to spend the following amounts for instruction:
Textbooks

$1,100,000

Four cases of paper for each teacher

Library books, materials, equipment and software
Instructional materials
Gateway to College disbursement

165,000
118,920
802,220
430,000
$2,616,140

Transfers: Interfund transfers total $19,174,757. Interfund transfers are movements of monies
between funds that are not actually expenditures of the district. Transfers are included in other
financing sources and other financing uses in the budget. The large amount of interfund transfers
is the result of mandates by the State Department of Education in the accounting of certain funds.

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Allocation of Monies to Schools: The district allocates local monies to each school based on either a
per student or per teacher basis. Listed below are the allocation amounts for the various types of
expenditures:
SUPPLIES
Instruction
Vocational
Special Education

$8
$1,000
$50

per student
per teacher
per teacher

$200
$50
$9
$2

per teacher
per teacher
per student
per student

Maintenance ($1,000 base if under 1,000 students)

REPAIRS AND MAINTENANCE
Library
Principal's Office

$12

per student

$4
$1

per student
per student

Maintenance (additional base if under 1,000 students)

EQUIPMENT
Instruction ($1,000 base for each school)
Library

$13

per student

$3
$2

per student
per student

$2
$5

per student
per student

$6.50
$8.00
$1.00

per student
per student
per student

Guidance
Speech
Library
Principal's Office

Principal's Office
Maintenance
OTHER
Telephone:*
Elementary
Middle and High
Postage
Utilities (water, gas and electricity)

based on prior year actual amounts

Copier Rental

$6,500 to $32,600

*An additional amount is allocated to the schools for ethernet phone lines.

Also, an additional amount is allocated to some schools for repairs and maintenance based on the age of
their building. The additional allocation is based on the following formula:
Age of School
0-10 Years
11-20 Years
21-30 Years

Additional Allocation
0%
5%
10%

31-40 Years
Over 40 Years

15%
20%

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Sixteenth Section Revenue: Revenue from sixteenth section sources is recorded in two main
funds. The sixteenth section principal fund is a nonexpendable permanent trust fund whereby
only the interest earnings of the principal balance may be transferred to the district maintenance
fund and used for any general purpose. The balance of the sixteenth section principal fund on
July 1, 2014 will be approximately $14,000,000. A transfer of interest earnings of $100,000 to the
district maintenance fund is budgeted for fiscal year 2015.
The other fund, the sixteenth section interest fund, is a special revenue fund. Its budgeted
revenue consists of leases ($937,300), timber sales ($425,000), interest earnings ($9,750) and
pro-rata revenue from other districts ($50,000). Monies from this fund are usually transferred to
the building and improvement fund and are used mainly for renovations, repairs, and
improvements to the various buildings in the district. However, in the last few years, monies from
this fund have been used to supplement the districts operating budget.
The graph below shows the amount of revenues from the sixteenth section interest fund for the
past seven years. As one can see, this fund generates significant revenues for the district.
SIXTEENTH SECTION INTEREST FUND REVENUE
2000

1,699,657

1,445,035
1,228,432

Thousands

16th SECTION REVENUE

1500
1,287,018

1,248,071

1,232,303

1,200,000

1000

500

0
FY08

FY09

FY10

FY11

FY12

FY13

FY14

F IS C A L Y E A R

No Change in Total Millage Rate: The operational (excluding debt service) millage rate which is
used to help fund the main operating fund (district maintenance fund), will increase 1.64 mills to
42.45 mills in fiscal year 2015. The millage rate to fund debt service will decrease 1.64 mills to
6.97 mills. The total millage rate will therefore remain the same at 49.42 mills.
Please note that the county sets the millage rate based on the districts dollar request and the
above millage rates are estimates calculated by the district. Actual millage rates will not be
known until September, 2014, when the county sets this rate.

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RANKIN COUNTY SCHOOL DISTRICT

BUDGET COMPARISON
FISCAL YEAR 2013 AND FISCAL YEAR 2014
FY 13

FY 14

INCREASE

PERCENT

REVENUES

BUDGET

BUDGET

(DECREASE)

CHANGE

LOCAL SOURCES

$64,240,675

$65,445,360

$1,204,685

1.88%

STATE SOURCES

81,005,193
16,672,483
2,338,875
1,465,000

81,463,860
14,421,237
2,534,125
13,326,000

458,667
(2,251,246)
195,250
11,861,000

0.57%
-13.50%
8.35%
809.62%

165,722,226

177,190,582

11,468,356

6.92%

93,235,557

93,021,158

(214,399)

-0.23%

8,441,793
7,593,030

8,860,647
6,863,582

418,854
(729,448)

4.96%
-9.61%

3,527,191
10,675,417
1,031,585
14,305,247

3,171,250
11,090,974
1,040,640
22,907,475

(355,941)
415,557
9,055
8,602,228

-10.09%
3.89%
0.88%
60.13%

7,420,449
1,238,329
10,054,359
321,614

6,561,896
1,298,951
9,960,146
346,510

(858,553)
60,622
(94,213)
24,896

-11.57%
4.90%
-0.94%
7.74%

0
13,545,871

0
13,769,076

0
223,205

0.00%
1.65%

171,390,442

178,892,305

7,501,863

4.38%

18,138,502
(18,138,502)

18,799,436
(18,799,436)

660,934
(660,934)

3.64%
-3.64%

0.00%

($1,385,050)

($5,668,216)

($4,283,166)

309.24%

FEDERAL SOURCES
SIXTEENTH SECTION SOURCES
OTHER FINANCING SOURCES
TOTAL REVENUE
EXPENDITURES
INSTRUCTION
SUPPORT SERVICES:
STUDENTS
INSTRUCTIONAL STAFF
GENERAL ADMINISTRATION
SCHOOL ADMINISTRATION
BUSINESS
OPERATION & MAINTENANCE OF PLANT
TRANSPORTATION
CENTRAL
NONINSTRUCTIONAL SERVICES
SIXTEENTH SECTION
FACILITIES ACQUISITION &
CONSTRUCTION
DEBT SERVICE
TOTAL EXPENDITURES
OPERATING TRANSFERS
TRANSFERS IN FROM OTHER FUNDS
TRANSFERS OUT TO OTHER FUNDS
NET OPERATING TRANSFERS
NET REVENUES OVER (UNDER)
EXPENDITURES

{PAGE }

RANKIN COUNTY SCHOOL DISTRICT

BUDGETED REVENUE BY SOURCE
FISCAL YEAR 2015

BUDGET
AMOUNT
LOCAL SOURCES
STATE SOURCES
FEDERAL SOURCES
SIXTEENTH SECTION SOURCES
OTHER SOURCES (excluding interfund transfers)
TOTAL BUDGETED REVENUE

PERCENT OF
TOTAL
BUDGET

$67,389,555
83,540,647

40.06%
49.66%

13,673,596
2,602,550
1,018,000

8.13%
1.55%
0.60%

$168,224,348

100.00%

90
49.66%
80

70

40.06%

Millions

60

50

40

30

20
8.13%
10
1.55%
0
LOCAL

STATE

FEDERAL

{PAGE }

16th SECTION

0.60%
OTHER

RANKIN COUNTY SCHOOL DISTRICT

BUDGETED LOCAL REVENUE
FISCAL YEAR 2015

BUDGET
AMOUNT
AD VALOREM TAXES
TUITION
DAILY LUNCH SALES
REVENUE FROM ACTIVITY FUNDS
INTEREST EARNINGS
OTHER LOCAL SOURCES
TOTAL BUDGETED LOCAL REVENUE

PERCENT OF
TOTAL LOCAL
SOURCES

PERCENT OF
TOTAL
BUDGET

$58,220,000

86.39%

34.61%

2,087,500
3,320,000
3,118,425
90,270

3.10%
4.93%
4.63%
0.14%

1.24%
1.97%
1.86%
0.05%

553,360

0.81%

0.33%

$67,389,555

100.00%

40.06%

A D V ALOREM TA XES
TUITION
DA ILY LUNCH SA LES
REV ENUE FROM A CTIV ITY FUNDS
INTEREST EARNINGS
OTHER LOCA L SOURCES

{PAGE }

RANKIN COUNTY SCHOOL DISTRICT

BUDGETED EXPENDITURES BY FUNCTION
FISCAL YEAR 2015
BUDGET
AMOUNT
INSTRUCTION
SUPPORT SERVICES
NON-INSTRUCTIONAL SERVICES
SIXTEENTH SECTION USES
FACILITIES ACQUISITION & CONSTRUCTION
DEBT SERVICE
TOTAL BUDGETED EXPENDITURES

{PAGE }

PERCENT OF
TOTAL
BUDGET

$99,423,102
54,190,293
10,179,223

55.39%
30.19%
5.67%

336,464
1,287,589
14,085,981

0.19%
0.72%
7.84%

$179,502,652

100.00%