Jerry Boland hugs wife, Lynn, after winning the District 1 school board seat Tuesday.(Brian Loden The Vicksburg Post)

[11/3/04]Jerry Boland and Tommy Shelton were the voters’ choices to fill the two vacant seats on the Vicksburg Warren School District Board of Trustees.

Both Shelton and Boland have daughters who are sophomores at Warren Central High School and two daughters who have graduated from the school.

Boland will represent District 1, and Shelton will represent District 5 on the five-member board when they take office in January.

“I look forward to working with the other school board members and Dr. (James) Price, and helping move the schools in a positive direction,” said Boland, 45, a roofing contractor.

Shelton, 51, was also looking forward to teamwork.

“I’ll support Dr. Price and give him and the teachers in the school district the resources they need to do their jobs,” said Shelton, a civil engineer for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Mississippi River Valley Division.

The seats were held by District 1 Trustee Chad Barrett and District 5 Trustee Kay Aasand. Both resigned in July. The posts have since been filled by interim trustees Donald Oakes, a former superintendent, and James Wilson, a former educator and administrator for the district. Oakes represents District 1 while Wilson represents District 5.

While Boland was at the Warren County Courthouse to hear election returns and Shelton waited at home, both had low-key celebrations.

Shelton, at home with his wife, Donna, and a family member, planned only to sneak a cupcake from the kitchen.

And, as the final numbers came in and after a few hugs, Boland said, “I’m going to get something to eat and go to sleep.”

Boland received 1,621 votes while Bryan Pratt, 36, received 1,390; Brenda Theriot, 56, received 824 votes; Shawn McKeever, 33, received 201; and Steve Elwart, 51, received 363.

Shelton received 2,663, and Joanne Gibbs received 1,470.

Board members serve staggered, six-year terms and set policy for the 9,000-student district.

Boland was named Parent of the Year at Warren Central, off Mississippi 27, in 2003, and Shelton has served as president of the Parent-Teacher Association at the high school.

Both support the community school plan that will be implemented in the 2005-2006 school year. The plan calls for students to attend elementary schools closer to their homes, closing the intermediate schools, returning all elementaries to K-6 and maintaining a racial balance in the schools.

In January, Shelton said, talk may center on that plan.

“I think we’ll need to start getting those plans in place,” he said.

But first things first, “I think they’re going to give me a computer and send me to school,” Boland said, referring to the district-issued laptop computers and the classes trustees must attend.

The other members of the school board are District 4’s Jan Daigre, board president; District 2’s Zelmarine Murphy; and District 3’s Betty Tolliver.