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VIDALIA, La. — There were no comments or complaints made regarding the adoption of the Concordia Parish School Board’s budget on Thursday, which includes start-up money for the remodel of Ferriday High School.

The budget for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2025, as it stands reflects total revenue of just under $55 million and total expenditures of just over $62 million, which results in a negative change of $6,679,376.

Fund balances at the beginning of the fiscal year stood at $24,378,111 and at the end of the fiscal year stood at $17,698,735.

The Concordia Parish School Board Director of Business Affairs Tom O’Neal said Thursday that the district does not yet have an itemized budget based on a completed audit, so the budget was incomplete.

“It will be complete. The board will have an itemized budget when it is complete, and hopefully that’ll be soon,” he said.

The budget reflects sales and use tax revenue of $7.1 million and ad valorem tax revenue of $6.6 million. The budget also reflects revenue from state sources at $29.3 million and revenue from federal sources at $9 million.

As for expenditures, $25.7 million is invested in educational programs, $24.2 million in support services, $3.4 million in food service, and $8.7 million in capital outlay projects.

The budget includes all requests that Superintendent Toyua Bachus brought before the school board that the school board approved, O’Neal said, including raises for all support personnel — meaning anyone on staff who is not a certified teacher or administrator; supplements for teachers who tackle duties beyond their contractual scope of work; and some money for the renovation of Ferriday High School.

Ferriday High recently received new windows thanks to federal Cares Act funds, and school officials have hired M3A Architecture firm based in Jackson to design improvements to give the school a fresh, modern look. The total project, estimated to cost around $5.5 million, will likely be phased out over two or three budget years.

“We can’t sustain that much cost” in one budget year, O’Neal said, adding it would not be impossible to do the project in phases over an extended period of time.

More than $1.4 million of the project cost comes from moving unsightly utility lines and electrical lines underground and resurfacing the parking lot, as well as adding an additional lot for bus parking behind the school.

School Board member Derrick Carson, who chairs the school board’s building and grounds committee, brought this budget for the Ferriday High School remodel to the board on Thursday and asked for its approval.

Board member Fred Butcher said the school board could look at ways to cut costs, such as additional funding sources and “value engineering” as they go.

“A project like this would likely take 24 to 36 months to complete anyway,” Butcher said.

The school board voted 6 to 1 on starting the Ferriday High School renovation, with Wayne Wilson being the only board member to vote no. School board president Lisette Forman and board member Vanessa Houck were both absent for Thursday’s meeting.