Two new faces will join the Vicksburg Warren School District Board of Trustees in 2011 as Warren County voters added to a high turnout statewide and nationally in Tuesday’s general election.

Unofficial tallies showed Bryan Pratt, 42, besting incumbent District 1 Trustee Jerry Boland with nearly 57 percent of the vote cast in the district, which covers northeast Warren County. The victory reverses a close loss to Boland in 2004.

Pratt, director of information technology at Ameristar Casino, thanked Boland for his service and said he is “excited” about the chance to serve on the five-member board for a six-year term.

“We need to revitalize involvement of parents in our district,” Pratt said, also citing over-age students in the 9,000-student district and teacher morale as the public schools’ top issues.

After unofficial results were read, Boland referred to his six years on the board as productive and wished Pratt well going forward.

“I am appreciative of my time on the board and what we accomplished,” Boland said.

In District 5, restaurant operator Sally Bullard was unopposed for the southeastern district’s seat after incumbent Tommy Shelton didn’t seek another term and Bullard’s name was not included on ballots in District 5. Pratt and Bullard will take their seats at the board’s January meeting.

“I think it’s going to be an interesting journey,” Bullard said. “I look forward to helping our school kids.”

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 October, the board OK’d a plan by Superintendent Dr. Elizabeth Duran Swinford to create exclusive classes for students two or more years behind their grade level. The district has classified 688 students in grade 3 through 12 in that category, with those students comprising 72 percent of the system’s discipline referrals.