Vicksburg Warren School District has a new public relations staff after tense debate from the Vicksburg Warren School District Board of Trustees Tuesday.

The school board voted 4-1 to hire public relations officer Susan Mandarino at a salary of $42,182 for the partial year followed by $51,651 annually. Elizabeth Wade was hired as a public information officer for $37,282 for the partial year followed by $45,651.

Mandarino will be responsible for media relations, and Wade will be responsible for the school district website and social media, Superintendent Dr. Elizabeth Swinford said.

“Right now we are a little more reactive than proactive,” Swinford said. “We got caught up in the minutiae but we should be celebrating us moving up.”

The school district has had not public relations staff since the mid-1990s.

Mandarino moved to Vicksburg two years ago from Columbus, Ga., where she worked in newspaper advertising. Here she has opened a private marketing firm, she said.

“I had different clients throughout Georgia and consulted for a few people here in Vicksburg,” she said.

The district will take a more direct approach of two-way communication with the community, Mandarino said.

“I’m very excited to be a part of the school district. I think they have amazing things to share and are going in the right direction,” she said.

Wade is a Union native and recent graduate of Mississippi State University with a degree in public relations. She moved to Vicksburg in Feburary but has worked summer internships with Vicksburg Convention and Visitors Bureau.

“My overall focus is to promote the school district and make sure we carry out a positive image and get the parents more involved,” Wade said.

To make that connection between parents and other community members, Wade said, the district will join such social media sites as Facebook and Twitter.

“It’s all very new, and there’s tons of stuff that’ll have to be done,” Wade said.

District 3 board member Jim Stirgus Jr. said he was concerned about hiring additional staff for the district office while the tax rate could be increasing. Stirgus also questioned a $2,400 additional supplement for athletic secretary Tonya Brown.

“This is what I love about this administration. The taxes are going up and we give people raises,” Stirgus said.

Lower assessed property values will translate into higher millage rates but not necessarily higher taxes, the Vicksburg Warren School District Board of Trustees said at a meeting in July.

In July three board members voted unanimously to approve the annual budget resolution for the county Board of Supervisors, requesting “the appropriate number of mills” be levied to provide $26,257,804 for support of the district’s regular programs. Stirgus Jr. and District 5 Trustee Sally Bullard did not attend that meeting.

Based on reduced property values determined by the Warren County tax assessor, the school millage will rise 1.39 percent to $47.59 from $46.20, a level at which it has been held for several years.

The district does not ask supervisors for a specific millage rate, finance director Dale McClung told the board, but for the total amount of local funds needed for its programs.

For the 2012-13 year, the total is about $70,000 less than what the board requested in its 2012 resolution, though the lower total assessed valuation affects the tax rate.

Taxes might rise depending on decisions of the Board of Supervisors, McClung said, and board members on Tuesday were adamant they didn’t want a tax increase.

“The Vicksburg Warren schools has no intent of increasing taxes,” said District 4 Trustee Joe Loviza.

Supervisors have set a public hearing for Monday on the proposed budget for fiscal year 2012-13. By state law, they must adopt a budget for the fiscal year that begins Oct. 1 by Sept. 15.