Perry Brown will be sworn in Monday to join the other four members of the Lincoln County School Board after he was elected to the seat Tuesday.

Brown, who owns Brown Forestry, defeated Brian Magee 295 to 230 votes in unofficial results, or 56.19 percent.

The two men faced each other in a special election runoff for the seat to fill the unexpired term of Ricky Welch, who resigned Sept. 10, 2018. Magee, a Navy veteran and technology professional, was appointed to replace Welch until a trustee could be elected.

There were only 1,921 eligible registered voters in the eight precincts — Arlington, Bogue Chitto, Enterprise, Forrestry, Johnson, Johnson Grove, Norfield and Old Brook.

There were 525 cards cast, or just 27.3 percent.

Brown said he was grateful to those who supported him in his bid to win a seat on the school board. He’ll represent Bogue Chitto — where his two children graduated and where two of his grandchildren attend school now — but will be supportive of the entire Lincoln County school district.

Brown wants to expand the district’s vocational-technical programs as well as the agricultural programs so that students from each attendance center can choose that avenue of study. Blue collar jobs pay well and there are abundant opportunities in those fields for Lincoln County graduates, he said.

“Not all of them are going to college and be doctors and lawyers,” he said.

Brown will serve with with ED1 Trustee Justin Laird, ED2 Trustee and President Billy Vaughn, ED4 Trustee Dianne Gill and ED5 Trustee Tim Cunningham. It is this board who will choose a superintendent to replace Mickey Myers in July when he retires. Superintendents are now appointed statewide rather than elected and Myers’ term ends in December. However, he agreed to stay and finish out the school year.

Brown wants to find the best qualified person for the job and also one who supports four individual attendance centers rather than consolidation.

“We need to find a superintendent who has the experience managing four separate campuses,” he said.

Brown’s first meeting will be Monday at 5:30 p.m. in the district office at 233 East Monticello St. He’ll be sworn into office, which he’ll hold until the general election in November 2020. At that time, someone will be elected to serve a six-year term.

The following is the precinct breakdown for the special election runoff:

Bogue Chitto

Brown 64, Magee 101

Enterprise

Brown 12, Magee 15

Forestry

Brown 2, Magee 2

Johnson

Brown 124, Magee 41

Johnson Grove

Brown 11, Magee 0

Norfield

Brown 46, Magee 32

Old Brook

Brown 4, Magee 17