Cooperative job training, GED programs and hands-on educational opportunities were all on the table Tuesday for the fall semester meeting of the Job Training Advisory Council for the Vicksburg Warren School District.

More than 50 business leaders, school administrators and elected officials met to discuss ideas about vocational training and other ways the Vicksburg Warren School District could work with and support local industries.

VWSD Trustee Joe Loviza, a former dean of Hinds’ Vicksburg campus who is the advisory council’s coordinator, said the district has been partnered with Hinds since the 1970s to bring job training and opportunities to the area’s high school students. Loviza emphasized the importance of community feedback in the process.

“I think you can see we have a good cross-section of the community here,” Loviza said. “The purpose of this council is to get input from the business and industry community to comment on our vocational training and what we can do to help.”

On the school district’s end, Superintendent Dr. Elizabeth Swinford highlighted the district’s Accelerated Program for Transition, which helps 19- to 21-year-old students who dropped out attain their GED. After starting with just nine students the first year, the program now has 39 students, with several having enrolled at Hinds Community College.

“Some of the kids come to us wearing ankle bracelets,” Swinford said in reference to criminal-monitoring devices. “We take kids who would be trouble in the community and give them an opportunity.”

For high-achieving students, Swinford said the district was working to give them opportunities to pursue unique fields that interest them through hands-on learning.

“We put together a group of students that are not necessarily gifted, but just high- achieving, who have dedicated parents who can help them at home,” Swinford said. “They experience learning first-hand by doing experiments.

“No first-grader ever said that they want to be a dropout when they grow up,” Swinford said. “They want to be policemen, firemen, doctors, lawyers or astronauts. We have to hold on to that.”

Wayne Mansfield, executive director of Warren County Port Commission, expressed gratitude for the work done at Hinds Community College and within the school district.

“Workforce development is what I see the school district and Hinds working toward,” Mansfield said. “They’re preparing our students for the job force.”

Loviza noted that not all students are bound for college, but all should have the opportunity to earn a decent living.

“In Warren County, 80 percent of our jobs require less than a bachelor’s degree,” Loviza said. “I have a nephew who had one year of training at Hinds Community College in welding. He makes $19.50 an hour, with one year of vocational training.”

District 4 Supervisor and Warren County Board President Bill Lauderdale said the board works to support the school district as much as possible despite decreased tax revenue.

“We’ve seen a lot of change from 15 years ago when we saw some of the best growth in Warren County to 2008,” Lauderdale said. “The public infrastructure, the schools, the roads are all areas that need attention. We’re very dedicated to trying to build our community up, but it takes money to do these projects.”

Rep. George Flaggs, the senior member of Warren County’s legislative delegation who has said he is considering running for mayor of Vicksburg next year, said without proper education and vocational opportunities, communities suffer.

“I think education is the foundation of our communities,” Flagg said. “I think one of the strengths of our community is in our level of vocational education.”

Sen. Briggs Hopson III said that while the Warren County delegation works to secure as much education funding as possible for VWSD, money is tight for the state.

“The foundation for our community and workforce here is our vocational education and we support that,” Hopson said. “You can’t just pull money for education from a big pile. When we’re talking about the state report, Medicaid is the big unknown. Will the American Care Act be fully implemented in the states or just partially or not at all?”

The Job Advisory Council will meet again in April.