At a special meeting held Monday, the Quitman ISD school board swore in Vanessa Simpkins, who had been the school board secretary, as a new trustee.

There were no deliberations concerning the appointment, and the school board clapped after the swearing-in ceremony.

Simpkins was reelected last May but then tendered her resignation.

The board also made a final amendment to the 2023-24 budget in the amount of $215,000. The amendment was just for “moving around some money for some adjustments within the budget,” according to Kari Wilson, the QISD director of finance.

The board approved the proposed budget for the 2024-25 school year.

They did discuss and note the fact that the SHARS grant, which is provided by the state for the purpose of some healthcare reimbursement, was substantially decreased for the 2024-25 budget.

“We were basically getting max funding for that; they came in towards the middle of last year and reduced that funding in half. And then again before we started this planning cycle, they told us they were going to reduce another 52% off of that,” said Superintendent Chris Mason.

The board voted to set a final property tax rate for the 2024-25 school year in the amount of $0.8966 per $100, which is slightly less than it was last year.