Due to hardships of the pandemic, students are in need of mental health and learning loss recovery support, said Jamestown Superintendent Kevin Whitaker.

In a $93.8 million 2022-23 budget passed Tuesday by the Jamestown Public Schools Board, Whitaker said the district is looking to emphasize student well-being and assistance.

“We are focused on learning loss recovery,” he said. “There’s been a tremendous amount of loss over the course of the past two years, and we’re hoping to address that with AIS teachers and reading teachers and some additional teachers on staff.

“But the second big item would be mental health support. We are committed to addressing the mental health stresses, anxieties and other mental health issues that have arisen as a result of the pandemic. We’re helping there with some additional care professionals, social workers and counselors. And we’re going to do all of this with a 0% tax increase.”

Whitaker said these items had been discussed earlier in the year but had been fleshed out and modified throughout the budget process. The budget calls for 40 additional staff members to be added to the district’s payroll.

“It’s 45 total people, but not really because five of them are teachers on special assignment, so it’s the same employee, just in a different role,” he said.

Whitaker said one thing that has been incredibly helpful in the budget this year is the addition of $4 million in American Rescue Plan Act funds.

“We have a very real, very right now need for our students,” Whitaker said. “When it comes to academics and mental health, we have to address it. This pandemic has brought upon our kids a kind of struggle and darkness that no one really anticipated. Spending time at home, as was required, was very difficult for many, many students, and it has had a long-term effect. We have to be able to address those in order to move forward.”

The budget passed Tuesday, which does not include a tax levy increase, now goes to a vote Tuesday, May 17. District voters will also be asked to approve two additional reserve funds, including a capital improvement fund and a vehicle, machinery and equipment reserve fund.

Likewise, voters will have the opportunity to approve the purchase of land across from the high school, which includes parking space that belongs to First Lutheran Church. The total cost to the district would be $225,000.

“We had some money come in from the federal government, and it’s important to us that we take care of our taxpayers’ long term,” he said, “so that’s why we are starting with these reserve funds so that we are able to smooth out any changes in future funding from the state in a way that does not have us having to reach out to the taxpayers to make those payments so we can keep our tax rate at 0% into the future. Our plan is trying to develop that 7-10 year plan where we can maintain this level of stability.”

Two members of the board of education, Patrick Slagle and Joe Pawelski, are up for re-election this year. Both members are running for their current seats.

A public hearing on the budget will take place beginning at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, May 10, in the high school.