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DeSoto County School District board meeting, Aug 6, 2026

27 min · 1 public speaker

Click any moment below to jump the video to that second. Video length 27 min.

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What happened

What happened at this meeting

School board takes up annual tax levy order and architectural contracts 4:12

  • The board heard a recommendation to approve the annual tax levy order, which a staff member said is required by law to implement the district's budget. 4:12
  • Staff requested approval of contracts for architectural services for athletic facility improvements, a building addition and track improvements at several high schools. 4:41
  • A presenter said general fund revenue collections through June were at $377,399,603 and preliminary general fund expenditures through June were at $362,638,404. 9:01
  • The board also took up a policy revision and personnel items, heard public comment and moved to consider an executive session on a request to appear and contract matters. 12:23
Item by item (10)
  1. Opening and agenda 0:26
    • The meeting was called to order with the pledge, and a staff member recommended approval of the agenda. 0:26
    • A motion and a second were made on the agenda. 1:09
  2. Superintendent's report 1:17
    • The superintendent said the district was completing day 4 with students and had held 4 days of staff development, and said the superintendent had visited all 43 schools over the last 10 days. 1:20
    • The superintendent said there was one item for executive session involving property contract matters. 1:20
    • The superintendent said the Mississippi Department of Education will recognize 15 schools statewide as Science of Reading schools, 6 of them in DeSoto County, with recognitions on August 19th and 20th. 2:12
  3. Attorney report, minutes and consent agenda 3:13
    • The board's attorney said there was no attorney report. ~3:16
    • The board took up minutes of July 14th, 2026, and July 16th, 2026, with a motion and a second. 3:18
    • A staff member recommended approval of the consent agenda. 3:47
  4. Annual tax levy order 4:01
    • A staff member said the annual tax levy order is the annual action required by law to implement the district's approved budget and that administrators recommend approval. 4:12
    • A staff member recommended the board approve the tax levy order for the '26-'27 school year, and a motion and a second followed. 4:27
  5. Architectural services contracts 4:38
    • Staff requested contracts for architectural services for athletic facility improvements at DeSoto Central High School and Lake Cormorant High School, and for a building addition at Center Hill High School. 4:41
    • Staff also requested contracts for gym bleacher replacements at DeSoto Central High School and Olive Branch High School and for track improvements at Horn Lake High School, Centerville High School, DeSoto Central High School and South Haven High School. 6:53
    • A further request covered architectural services for a workout facility expansion at Horn Lake High School. 8:30
  6. Monthly financial reports 8:56
    • A presenter said general fund revenue collections through June were at $377,399,603, 1% higher than FY25, and preliminary general fund expenditures were at $362,638,404, about 9% over FY25. 9:01
    • A presenter said the preliminary fund balance for all general funds was at $190,444,879, 5% less than the FY25 balance, and said a dip is typical in June because it contains both June and July teacher payroll. 10:38
    • A presenter said the June cash balance for district maintenance was at $188,340,972 and all bank statements had been reconciled with no exceptions. 11:20
  7. Board policy revision and exhibit 12:20
    • A presenter asked the board to revise a board policy to update information on what is considered an order and new documentation requirements. 12:23
    • A staff member recommended approval of revised board policy JGCDC and the associated exhibit JGCDC E1. 12:45
  8. Personnel 13:33
    • A presenter went over personnel recommendations and changes, including requests for compensation for sign language interpreters and a 10% supplement for an employee who provides Spanish interpretation services. 13:33
    • The requests included 30 extra hours at $30 per hour for special education work and up to 40 additional hours for middle school counselors and up to 80 for high school counselors. 14:51
    • A staff member recommended the board approve personnel as presented. 16:08
  9. Public comment and requests to appear 16:15
    • The chair said board policy allows 30 minutes for public comment and that student or personnel matters are heard in executive session. 16:15
    • A staff member said a student matter and a facility use matter would be heard in executive session. 17:07
    • A speaker at public comment asked the board to tell teachers to stop presenting as scientific fact that stars are millions of light years away. 18:28
  10. Executive session and next meeting 26:27
    • The chair called for a motion on whether to enter executive session for a request to appear and contract matters. 26:27
    • The next board meeting was announced for Thursday, August 20th at 10:15 AM. 26:46

Written by software from the meeting's transcript and checked sentence by sentence against it.

Who spoke

Who spoke

We can’t yet tell who is speaking at this board’s meetings.

Video: posted by the district as “August 6th, 2026 Desoto County School Board Meeting”