NATCHEZ &045;&045; The 2003 Natchez-Adams County School District audit put a temporary smile on a few faces at Thursday afternoon’s board meeting.

The report from Silas M. Simmons & Co., LLP Accountant Dawn Mathis showed that the district’s total net assets increased $1,007,951, up three percent from last year.

In addition, the district reduced its outstanding long-term debt by eight percent.

&uot;You are a little better off at the end of the school year than you were at the beginning,&uot; Mathis told the board.

However, as far as cash flow, the district expended more than they took in, Mathis said.

The district ended the school year with close to $10 million in cash.

The board also heard a report from Director of Operations Harold Barnett regarding school resource officers.

The campus police officers are currently funded through a COPS in School grant that expires in July.

At last month’s meeting the board agreed upon the necessity of the officers.

But it expressed concern over being able to fund the salaries when the grant expires.

The board passed a recommendation Thursday to find the money to pay the officers for 180 days a year, or the school year.

Under the recommendation the city will be responsible for the remainder of the officers’ salaries.

The recommendation passed after board member James Coleman told the board that the Natchez Police Department needed to know something by April 5.

In other business, the school board:

4 Approved a change order for the amount of $1,261 to finish erosion work at the Braden central office.

The change order is an addition to $60,970 already paid for

the work being done by Camo Construction at West Primary School, Frazier Primary and Braden.

4The board approved a request to refund $326 to the purchaser of old tiles from Braden.

Some of the tiles were unable to be removed from the building and Superintendent Anthony Morris recommended the refund in &uot;good faith.&uot;