North Pike Tax Base Jumps a Record $13 Million as Board Sets Tax Request
SUMMIT — North Pike School District's assessed property valuation rose by about $13 million this year, the largest increase district officials say they have seen, as the Board of Trustees set its ad valorem tax request for the 2026-27 fiscal year at its Aug. 7 meeting.
“Our assessed valuation went up about 13 million. It's never gone up that high since I've been here,” the district's business officer told the board. Roughly $9 million of the increase came from new property growth, officials said, and the district's request will keep its millage rate under the state's 55-mill cap on school district operating levies.
A board member asked whether restarted Exxon production in the area contributed to the jump; the business officer said the county attributed the growth to new property broadly.
The board also approved four fund transfers totaling $460,851. The largest, $160,000, moves money from the building fund to district maintenance for the football stadium pavement project — a transfer the business officer said was already in the budget. A further $132,450 will purchase a special-education bus, while $105,000 in federal Title II funds and $63,401 in Title IV-A funds were shifted into Title I, which the officer said carries fewer spending restrictions. All four transfers passed without discussion.
In his report to the board, Superintendent Jay Smith said changes to the state's accountability system mean this year's school grades cannot be measured against earlier ones. “2025-26 grades cannot be compared to grades from previous years,” Smith said, attributing the break to a revised calculation for writing samples and new proficiency cut scores set by the state.
Smith said districts have asked the Mississippi Department of Education to “hold harmless” schools whose scores may fall under the new model, but that those requests have so far “fallen on deaf ears.” He added that discussion with the state was ongoing.
The change means North Pike, like other Mississippi districts, will not be able to demonstrate year-over-year academic growth under the state's A–F accountability system this cycle. Smith said preliminary accountability results are expected between Aug. 17 and Sept. 20; the state's final decision on hold-harmless treatment had not been announced.