West Lincoln Attendance Center will welcome a new principal forthe next school.

Taking the recommendation of Superintendent of Education PerryMiller, the school board voted Monday to hire Monty Wilson, now anassistant junior high principal in Crystal Springs

Wilson, who has served as a principal, assistant principal andfootball coach in a career spanning more than 25 years, will fillthe position left vacant when Miller was elected superintendentlast fall. Jack Case has been serving as interim principal duringthe spring semester.

Wilson, 50, is married and has stepchildren, said Miller.

In other discussion concerning West Lincoln, a retiringbasketball coach and teacher will be honored this year when thebuilding where he spent countless hours will be named in hishonor.

The West Lincoln Attendance Center’s gym will soon be named theJack Case Gymnasium. Case, who spent a majority of his time at thegym, recently announced his retirement after 36 years.

Lincoln County School Board President James Keen referred to thegym as “the house that Jack built.” Keen said it should be named inCase’s honor because of his accomplishments as a basketballcoach.

Some of those accomplishments include winning back-to-back Class1A Boys’ State Championships in 1981 and 1982. He has also coachedseveral girls’ teams to South Mississippi championships.

In other matters, board members decided to begin advertising forbids on a project that will add more classrooms and science labs toLoyd Star Attendance Center. The project is the fourth phase ofrenovations and improvements that began over two years ago.

Students who have done well in the Accelerated Reading Programwill be rewarded for their efforts with a field trip this year. Theschool board opted Monday to wave the bus fee for the trip.

Following recommendation from auditors who have been working inthe school district for the last few months, the district will opena new payroll clearing and accounts payable checking account.

The new accounts will allow the payroll and accounts payableprocess to run smoother, according to Miller.

Business Manager Janet Smith said the new accounts were not anindication of anything wrong, adding that the district will notknow final results of the audit for several months.

The next scheduled school board meeting is at 5:30 p.m. May 16,rather than May 15, because of a time conflict for a board member.The school board meetings held at the central office on MonticelloStreet are open to the public.