The Vicksburg Warren School District Board of Trustees Tuesday gave Superintendent Chad Shealy and raise and a contract extension through 2019.

It’s a well-deserved pat on the back and a further investment in making the school system better.

When Shealy was hired by the board in October 2013, he inherited a difficult environment.

The school district’s overall reading score was a “D.” The school district faced a deficit.

His predecessor, Dr. Elizabeth Swinford, who resigned to take a similar position with the Tuscaloosa, Ala., School District, left the school district in disarray with little or no direction.

And there was some question whether Shealy, who at the time of his selection was principal of Gary Road Intermediate School in Byram in Hinds County, was up to the task, despite awards for his ability as an administrator.

He has proven more than equal to the task.

In fact, he has surpassed it, and the school board has taken notice.

Shealy has taken a progressive approach to education in the district and it has shown.

In reading scores released in September, 96 percent of the school district’s third-graders passed the third-grade reading assessment tests.

The Leader in Me Program has advanced under his direction to include five schools, Bovina, Bowmar, Beechwood, Dana Road and Redwood elementary schools, and the school district with the Vicksburg-Warren Chamber of Commerce in October received the Crystal Star Award from the National Dropout Prevention Network for implementing the program.

He has also been a driving force for a career and technical education program in the school system to prepare students not only to be able to go to college if they wish, but to be able to get technical training for other jobs in the workplace. He has also increased the school district’s partnership with Hinds Community College to help students earn early college credits, and has worked to establish career academies that allow students be prepared to enter major subject fields in college. More recently, the Vicksburg Warren School District and the Ford Motor Co. began a partnership Monday when Ford Next Generation Learning launched the first phase of a five-phase, approximately three-year program, aimed at transforming existing secondary education here into an educational program that prepares students for life, college and other careers.

The district was one of three state districts named a District of Innovation by the Mississippi Board of Education, which allows certain districts to try new practices, such as multiple opportunities for student graduation, on-site work experience through internships, and the possibility of after school, virtual and weekend course.

Shealy’s first three years at the helm of the Vicksburg Warren School District have proven to be innovative and inventive as the district looks to better educate our children and get them ready for live outside the classroom. We applaud him for his work and the school district for recognizing his accomplishments.