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At its special called meeting on Wednesday, the Chambers County School Board unanimously approved the budget for the 2021 fiscal year.

The 2021 budget is more than $40 million, which is up just over $3 million from the 2020 fiscal year.

The biggest increase in money was from the federal government, specifically the CARES Act. The amount of money that the CCSD has budgeted from the government is $7.750 million, which is $2.5 million more than the previous year’s budget.

In her superintendent’s report, Dr. Kelli Hodge updated the number of students and faculty that had dealt with the COVID-19 virus since the start of the 2020-21 school year.

Overall, there have been seven students to test positive for the virus since Aug.12. Forty-six students have been quarantined for direct exposure, while 16 have been sent home from school due to exhibiting symptoms.

Since Aug. 4, seven faculty members have tested positive for COVID-19,  while six have been quarantined for direct exposure. Only three of the 460 faculty members have been sent home for exhibiting symptoms.

“Our numbers don’t really look so bad, and that could be a lot worse,” Hodge said. “Honestly, when I go by the schools, they’re following the rules. The teachers, the staff, the kids, their parents, everybody is just working really hard.”

The CCSD has 3,257 total students, with 2,374 students attending class on campus.

There are roughly 930 students that are participating in the virtual learning option that was presented at the start of the school year.

“Things are really starting to get in gear with the virtual school,” Hodge said. “They’re through pretesting, and now they’re getting into their lessons. That stuff is really going well too.”

The school board also approved the yearly grants to the Boys and Girls Club and Circle of Care, which were $4,200 and $3,000 respectively. Hodge said the grants were equal to what the board had approved the previous two years.