The St. Tammany Parish School Board unanimously approved a budget totaling almost $338 million Thursday night. The budget is an increase of about one-third of 1 percent over last year’s budget, or about $1 million.

The approval comes after introduction at committee as a whole meetings and a public hearing.

Superintendent Gayle Sloan said that conservative hiring practices and energy conservation accounts for some of the savings. The opening of two new schools and an addition of 500 students across the parish did cause some expenditures, but the budget increases still allowed for an across the board salary increase of $1,000 per employee. The board also saluted those employees who had perfect attendance the past year. All employees with perfect attendance were entered into a drawing for a $500 award. The winner was Lois Cousin, a paraprofessional from Marigny Elementary.

A resolution was passed unanimously at the meeting in appreciation for those employees, who “serve as an example to students that regular attendance is a positive work habit that can lead to a successful and rewarding future.”

The United Way campaign gets underway from Sept. 14 thru Oct. 16 for employees of the school board to participate through payroll deduction or a cash donation. A resolution supporting the efforts of the United Way was also passed unanimously.

Also saluted by resolution were the members of Fire District 4 for their assistance in training employees on the use of Automated External Defibrillators.

The school board also unanimously accepted for public review the policy and guidelines for employees’ electronic communication with students. The new policy is in response to legislation passed by the state in which employees are now required to report any electronic communication with a student at their school either by telephone, fax, e-mail, or social network. The policy is on the school board website and the board welcomes comments and/or suggestions regarding the policy.

Construction projects have been completed and were accepted at the regular school board meeting Thursday night.

Among the projects completed are:

Reroofing of the original building at Riverside Elementary School; reroofing of Alton Elementary School; and athletic facility completion at Lakeshore High School.

Bids were accepted and the contract awarded to Brunt Construction, Inc. for additions and renovations of Fifth Ward Junior High. The bid is $6,937,000 and the budget amount was originally $9.2 million, financed by the 2008 bond issue.

The project includes a new cafeteria/auditorium, chorus and band building, renovation of existing cafeteria into a library, the existing library into a computer lab and renovations to the oldest wing of the building. The highest bid received was for $8.5 million, still under the original budget.

Also unanimously approved by the board are the recommendations of Fauntleroy & Latham Architect, APC for renovations to Alton Elementary School and Richard C. Lambert Consultants, LLC for the replacement of the Ninth Street Building at Slidell High School.

Type I-B architectural/ engineering design service rotation pool firms will be extended for one year. The firms include J. V. Burkes & Associates, Inc.; Dammon Engineering; Drake Engineering Inc.; Duplantis Design Group, PC; Fauntleroy & Latham Architects, APC; Gasaway-Gasaway-Bankston; Holly & Smith Architects, APC; Krebs, LaSalle, Lemieux Consultants; KVS Architecture $ Associates; Kyle Associates, LLC; Richard C. Lambert Consultants, LLC; Kelly McHugh & Associates, Inc.; MSH Architects, LLC; Perez, APC; Brett Petry Architect; Piazza Architecture Planning; Pinnacle Engineering, LLC; Ritter Consulting Engineers, Ltd.; Verges Rome Architects; WDG, LLC (formerly Wink Design Group.)

Also receiving the recommendation for Type II-A/II-B technical services extensions for one year are: Arpentuer Consultants, LLC; BFM Corporation, LLC; J. V. Burkes & Associates, Inc.; GSE Associates, Inc.; Krebs, LaSalle, Lemieux Consultants, Inc.; Kelly McHugh & Associates, Inc.; Tuner Surveys, LLC; and Wink Companies, LLC. For geotechnical services, the following firms received recommendations: Ardaman & Associates, Inc.; Eustis Engineering, LLC; and Professional Service Industries, Inc.

For materials testing the following firms are recommended: Beta Testing & Inspection; Eustis Engineering, LLC; Professional Service Industries, Inc.; and Southern Earth Sciences, Inc.