The man responsible for the education for most of Warren County’s children will be the speaker Wednesday for the August Vicksburg Warren County Chamber of Commerce luncheon.

Vicksburg Warren County School District Superintendent Chad Shealy will speak about the direction the public schools are taking and many of the changes still in store for the approximately 8,800 students.

“It’s mostly going to be the direction of where we’re heading, things we’re doing and what we’ve done so far,” Shealy said. “It’s about doing what we said we were going to do and how far we have gotten in it.”

“We’ve gotten a lot of support from other entities out there and I want to make sure I give them credit.”

The VWSD is a finalist for a grant through the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

“We’re a finalist in a $7 million grant from Bill and Melinda Gates, and if we can land that I’ll be so excited,” he said. “The whole content there is to help with our teaching. Teachers in the nation are on a downturn and 46 percent of teachers in Mississippi are at retirement age.”

“We’ve got to have a lot of focus on that and establish a teachers academy within the high school, and it’s an innovative, transformative teacher center and it’s going to be the only one in the nation if we can get it.”

“We’re one of five finalists and the only school district in Mississippi that was offered, and the state superintendent recommended us,” he said. “That in itself was just nice to be a part of.”

The district is dealing with aging buildings and working on a plan to upgrade some of those facilities.

“We’re also finalizing something with Johnson Controls that will give us $9 million worth of upgrades for money that we were already going to spend on electricity. That’s budget neutral.”

Tickets for the luncheon are still available and cost $13 payable at the door via cash, check or credit card.

For more information or to check availability, call 601-636-1012 or email ecurry@vicksburgchamber.org