PJC receives clean audit

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School remains competitive in tuition

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PARIS — Paris Junior College received another good audit report, the Board of Regents learned at the monthly meeting held on Monday, Jan. 28.

“Our responsibility is to give our opinion on audited financial statements prepared by the management of Paris Junior College,” said Andy Reich with McClanahan Holmes, LLP, Certified Public Accountants. “You have a clean opinion. We had no findings, and that’s good news.”

Regents also heard that PJC tuition rates continue to be below the state average.

Comparing PJC to the state average, respectively, in-district tuition is $81 vs. $94; out-of-district tuition is $131 vs. $150; and non-resident (out-of-state or international) tuition is $181 vs. $213. The latter category exempts Oklahoma states contiguous to the PJC service area.

“We’ll be setting PJC 2021 tuition and fees in February,” said PJC President Dr. Pam Anglin as part of her report to the regents. “We look at surrounding colleges and the state average to help arrive at the recommendation.”

In other business, the Regents:

• Gave annual approval for the Investment Policy - CAK (local), as required by the State of Texas. There is no substantive change to PJC investments;

• Voted to re-authorize the authorized brokers/dealers for investments which lists the brokers and investment pools in which PJC has authority to invest funds;

• Approved the Local Policy Update 37 prepared by the Texas Association of School Boards. The changes to the college’s governing policies largely reflect legislation passed in the previous year. One such change will ensure that all PJC faculty and staff receive cybersecurity training;

• Received a preliminary enrollment report showing 4,459 students, down 3.67%. A significant reason for the decline is an unemployment rate of 3%; and

• Accepted the employment of Educational Opportunity Center Advisor Gabriela Reyes at the PJC-Greenville Center and the resignations of Student Activities Coordinator Taylor Locknar, effective Jan. 24, and Campus Police Officer Christie Buzbee, effective Feb. 9.