Justin Sawyer, assistant football coach for Lawrence County, will be coming to Lincoln County later this year to run the football program at West Lincoln Attendance Center.

Sawyer was approved by a unanimous vote of the Lincoln County School Board Monday night at the recommendation of Principal John Shows.

He’ll start in July, said Superintendent Mickey Myers.

Sawyer is replacing Charlie Jackson, who resigned in early January but plans to stay on through May. Jackson started at West Lincoln in June 2015. He replaced Willie Brumfield, who took a head coaching position at Sumrall High School after three seasons at West Lincoln.

Sawyer’s wife, Kim Sawyer, will be teaching algebra at Bogue Chitto Attendance Center, Myers said.

Several administrators were also approved for the 2017-18 school years at Myers’ recommendation. They are administrators Jay Rayborn (Bogue Chitto), Terry Brister (Enterprise), Robin Case (Loyd Star) and Shows. Jeremy Peagler, elementary principal at Loyd Star and assistant superintendents Letha Presley and Richelle Ratcliff were also approved by the board.

Posey sworn in

The meeting started with a swearing-in ceremony for the board’s newest member, Joanna Posey, who is representing District 5.

Posey was appointed to the board in January at the recommendation of her father-in-law, Michael Posey. He had served on the school board representing District 5 for two six-year terms.

The board accepting applications to fill Posey’s seat until an election can be conducted in November 2018. At some point over the years, Lincoln County’s election rotation got out of sync with the rest of the state when it came to terms and elections of school board members.

The District 5 election should have been held in 2014, but Michael Posey was elected the second time in 2010, and his term started in 2011. Posey’s term expired at the end of 2016, but if an election was held for District 5 in November 2016, that seat would remain out of sync with the rest of the state.

Work session planned

The board’s attorney, Jim Keith of Adams and Reece in Ridgeland, suggested board members schedule a work session to brainstorm long-range plans for the district.

Keith told them they should look at ways to compete with other educational avenues such as private school and home-school programs or face decreased enrollment, which also means a loss of revenue. “We’ve got to have an excellent school system,” Keith said.

He offered the board the use of his firm’s conference room in Ridgeland as well as providing them lunch.

Keith suggested board members schedule the work session on a Saturday. He also suggested that if the meeting is held in Ridgeland, the public isn’t likely to attend.

Work sessions are open to the public, but no action can be taken.

The board tabled the issue until it could discuss it further at the next meeting, which will be Tuesday, Feb. 21, at 5 p.m.

Myers told The Daily Leader Tuesday the work session would be “a retreat of sorts” for board members. “Many times, school districts do these things outside the board room where we meet all the time,” he said.

He said the board has not had a work session since he’s been superintendent. Myers came on in January 2016.

In other business, the board went into five executive sessions — two to discuss possible litigation, one to discuss personnel on campus, one to discuss personnel and building projects and one to discuss personnel. No action was taken when the board entered back into open session and the meeting was immediately adjourned.