Lincoln County School District students returned to class Monday and will soon be gearing up for state testing in a few months, Superintendent Terry Brister told school board trustees during Monday’s meeting.

     “We’re trying to get back in the saddle and ready as far as academics is concerned,” Brister said.

     Subject Area Testing is scheduled for March, the superintendent said. Students are currently taking any makeup tests they may have missed from earlier in the school year.

     “Hopefully, we can do as well or better than we did last year,” Brister said.

     However, Brister cautioned that can be a difficult task as the scale changes from year to year and progress is measured against progress from the year before. He added that results can be misleading because a higher performing school can appear to not have made as much progress as a school that did not score as well last year.

     In other news, Brister expressed pleasure at construction progress at all four county schools. A parking lot to address drainage issues at Loyd Star and a middle school roof at West Lincoln have been completed and gym construction at Bogue Chitto and Enterprise is going well.

     With Monday’s being the first meeting of the new year, Brister swore in newly elected board members following last year’s elections.

     District One’s Kay Coon, who joined the board in 2003, was sworn in to a new term after winning a contested race last year and District Two’s Johnny Hart, who previously served one term on the board, was welcomed back after being unopposed last year.

     The routine rotation of board officers was also on the agenda. Ricky Welch will serve as president, Coon as vice president and Michael Posey as board secretary.

     Due to the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. holiday on Jan. 21, The next school board meeting will be held on Jan. 22 at 5 p.m. at the district office.