The Lincoln County School District’s Board of Trustees signed in a new member during the first meeting of the new year.

Superintendent David Martin swore in Joe Portrey and all the other trustees welcomed him into the group afterward. Portrey took retiring Tim Cunningham’s seat.

With that done, the meeting turned to nominations for president, vice president and secretary. Perry Brown was voted in as president, taking over for Diane Gill. Billy Vaughn is now vice president and Justin Laird is secretary. 

“I better get to taking notes,” Laird joked.

Finance Director Sam Stewart presented the following claims dockets – Central Office, $163,542.13; Bogue Chitto, $8,010; Enterprise, $1,741.18; Loyd Star, $8,833.69; West Lincoln, $8,120.98. Late additions included a claim docket of $65,836.53 for Central Office and request for a three-year rental agreement with Pitney Bowes regarding the postage machine at Central Office. 

He also received approval to void a check for $14.04 and reissue it due to the school employee not receiving the original check. Stewart reported the need for a rehabilitation and renovation insurance regarding the new Central Office/Bus Bar construction and the board approved the expense.

Stewart reported the mileage reimbursement rate for 2023, saying that the Mississippi Code of 1972 mandates the mileage reimbursement rate for the state be the same as the rate for federal. He received approval of the state mileage reimbursement rate of .655 cents per mile for the district this year. He also received approval to revise policies to reflect the new rate.

The board also approved several recommendations for and from area principals and staff members, including the following:

• Dr. Heather Singley, SPED director, for private travel reimbursement contract for 2022-2023 and overnight travel for SPED department employees to attend a workshop Feb. 23-24 in Tupelo.
• Terry Brister, principal, Enterprise, for out-of-state travel for Enterprise first-grade students to attend the Children’s Discovery Center in Louisiana in February.
• Jason Frazier, interim West Lincoln principal, for travel overnight to attend a workshop Feb. 13-14 and another March 14-15, both in Gulfport.
• A memorandum of agreement with Delta State University regarding student teachers for spring
• Addition of personnel and student transfers

The next scheduled meeting for the board is at 5:30 p.m., Feb. 21, at Loyd Star’s library.