Tuesday’s election features a race for a seat on the Vicksburg Warren School District Board of Trustees in District 1, covering northeast Warren County.

Incumbent Jerry Boland, 51, a roofing contractor, is challenged by Bryan Pratt, 42, director of information technology at Ameristar Casino. In a close race decided by 231 votes, Boland defeated Pratt six years ago for the seat, when a total of 3,835 votes were cast in a five-person race.

School board members, who meet monthly, set policy and monitor financial accountability in the district. Operational management is the responsibility of a superintendent, hired by the trustees. The five trustees are elected to staggered six-year terms.

In District 5, which covers southeast Warren County, newcomer Sally Bullard, 48, owner of Main Street Market Cafe, is running unopposed. Incumbent Tommy Shelton announced several months ago that he would not seek a second term.

Boland and Pratt recently answered several questions posed to them by The Vicksburg Post. Following are the questions and their answers.

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Please state what you believe are qualifications that will help you be or continue to be an effective school board member?

• Boland: The most important thing I have learned serving the past six years as school board trustee are my legal limits and my moral obligation to do the right thing.

Researchers suggest that effective board members focus on student achievement and allocate resources to meet the needs of the students. It has taken many hours of research on my part to make the decisions we are asked to make. Informed policymaking requires using data to drive decisions.

I will continue to be involved in our community to make sure our decisions meet the moral obligations we have to our young people.

• Pratt: I am a Vicksburg native and a product of the Vicksburg Warren School District. I have three children in the district, making me uniquely aware of the issues facing our schools. I was raised by an educator and three members of my immediate family are educators. Every day I see what challenges face our students and teachers.

For three years, I have been chairman of the Chamber of Commerce Education Committee. In that role, I assisted in implementing the Mississippi Scholars Program and have worked closely with students, teachers and community leaders. Education is vitally important to me and is my passion.

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Are there specific problems or shortcomings you hope to address? If so, please describe them. If not, please explain what you think are the biggest challenges faced by the district?

• Boland: There will always be areas in need of improvement that must be addressed. The biggest challenge we face is to understand our students, how they were raised, peer pressure they face, problems they bring to school, and use what we have learned to help build their desire to learn.

The educational opportunities we offer in the Vicksburg Warren School District are endless. We should always be looking for better ways to relay that education to our precious children. When making decisions about school programs, I will always incorporate the community’s view of what students should know and be able to learn.

• Pratt: I believe that student discipline, teacher morale and accountability are some of the major issues facing our district. Effective student discipline creates a respectful and positive environment for learning.

I am excited about the possibility that our new superintendent will be able to create a positive work environment that values open communication and respects diversity of thought. We tend to put great focus on the accountability of our teachers

I also believe that parents and administrators are just as vital to the successful education of our children. We need to understand that our district cannot succeed by teaching the tests. Good test scores are a by-product of our children learning.

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Improved discipline was one of the goals discussed by trustees as a new superintendent was sought this year. Do you believe administrative control of discipline in the district is lacking? If so, what would you do to correct it?

• Boland: Discipline problems have always hampered our ability to educate our students. Disruptions in the classroom take valuable instructional time away from other students. We spend valuable resources addressing these problems.

I think we should pursue a more collaborative effort with community leaders, faith-based groups and law enforcement personnel to work towards solving these disruptive issues. We must all do a better job of understanding what causes these problems and instill in our young people the importance of respecting others.

A strong disciplinarian was an important character trait we were looking for in our new superintendent. Dr. (Elizabeth) Swinford fully understands the importance of order in our schools and has begun to address these disruptions. If we work together we can solve these problems.

• Pratt: Discipline is one of the major issues facing our district. Correcting our discipline problem begins with addressing over-age students, strengthening the support of teachers by administrators, empowering teachers through classroom management training and refocusing our parents on their role in educating their children.

I feel that our teachers are in a no-win situation with the increased pressure to have good test scores. They are responsible for student performance even if a student is sent home or to detention.

I also believe that reviving teacher morale and increasing parental involvement are fundamental to the future success of our district.

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As a means to get more parents and the rest of the community involved in district policymaking, would you be in favor of allowing public comments at board of trustees meetings without the currently required agenda preregistration? Why or why not?

• Boland: I have always said that community involvement and parent input are the undeniable key to success in our schools. More community involvement by our administrative personnel helps them understand their students, which can aid in the delivery of instruction. As I said before, when making decisions about school programs, I will always incorporate the community’s view of what students should know and be able to learn.

Our superintendent has already placed in action some programs to get the community involved, with more to follow. The board of trustees are the policy making body of the school district. Our meetings are structured and formal and are the place of last resort for problems. Good communication between individual board members and parents has always helped me more understand their issues. I have always welcomed people to call me with their issues, only to find they mostly need direction. As far as our 10-day deadline to be placed on the agenda, I have always thought that should be reduced.

• Pratt: Our country was founded on open access and accountability of our government. I feel confident that our new superintendant could implement a policy that would allow concerned citizens to be able to express their opinions and have their issues addressed.

Time limits could be established to ensure we are able to conduct an efficient meeting. If their questions require more research or further investigation, our superintendant could be tasked with updating everyone on her findings at our next scheduled board meeting.

It is important to me that we involve everyone in our district’s operation.