MSBA Election
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Wednesday, November 18, 2009
For more information or photos, Contact: Linda Buford-Burks, Director of Communications,
(601) 924-2001; lburks@msbaonline.org
CLINTON, MS – South Panola School District board president Lygunnah Bean has been elected new president of the Mississippi School Boards Association. Bean, employed as the Panola County road manager, was elected Tuesday, November 17 by the Delegates Assembly –– a body of school board member representatives from across the state. They convened for the annual business session during the Mississippi School Boards Association’s Fall Leadership Conference in Jackson.
The Delegates Assembly also elected Dr. Norris Edney, Natchez-Adams School District board president, as MSBA vice president and Marian Barksdale, a member of the Oxford School District Board of Trustees, as secretary-treasurer. Jackson County School District board president Kenneth Fountain will remain on the MSBA Board of Directors as immediate past president.
At the Delegates Assembly, school board members also elected local school board members to serve on the statewide MSBA Board of Directors for two-year terms: (Congressional District 1) David Duncan, South Tippah School District; Tommy Prude, Columbus School District; Stephen Dodd, DeSoto School District; (Congressional District 3) Barbara Jones, Lauderdale County School District; Sondra Odom, Pearl School District; and, Etta Taplin, North Pike School District.
Under MSBA bylaws, the association’s president is authorized to appoint four additional members to serve on the MSBA Board of Directors during his/her one-year term of office.
More information about MSBA Officers and New Board Members:
NEW OFFICERS
Lygunnah Bean has been a member of the board of trustees of the South Panola School District since 1992, serving as its president for the past six years. He served as presidential appointee to the MSBA Board of Directors twice before being elected to the MSBA board. Prior to the start of his career, the South Panola board member studied tool and die making at Northwest Community College, later opting to pursue studies in computer programming and earned certification in the field. He used his computer knowledge to develop and install a computerized road and bridge system for Panola County, where he works as county road manager. He also owns Bean’s Computer Printing –– a computer consulting, bookkeeping and accounting business. A strong advocate for children, Bean has actively worked as a volunteer for the Boys and Girls Club of Northwest Mississippi, serving as a member of the organization’s Personnel Committee. Bean and his wife Deborah have two daughters: Nadia, a freshman at Northwest Community Collge; and, Lakenna, a social services counselor at the Finch-Henry Job Corps Center in Batesville.
Dr. Norris A. Edney, retired biology professor and Dean of the School of Arts & Sciences at Alcorn State University, was first elected to the MSBA Board of Directors in 2005. He served as MSBA secretary-treasurer during the 2008-09 school year. Dr. Edney has served as president of the Natchez-Adams School District Board of Trustees since 2001. Also former president of the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC), Dr. Edney has earned numerous awards for both community and professional accomplishments including Outstanding Agriculture Researcher, Research Scientist of the Year, and SWAC Hall of Fame. He has two doctorate degrees, one in conservation (mycology) from Michigan State University and the other in education administration from the University of Wisconsin. He received his undergraduate degree from Tougaloo College and M.S.T. degrees from Antioch College (biology – ecology) and from Atlanta University (biology – experimental). He was biology professor at Alcorn State University for 31 years. He and his wife Lillian have three grown sons: Norris II, a health physicist for Grand Gulf Nuclear Power Plant; Albert, a research chemist/minister; and Alvin, a district supervisor with the MS Department of Health.
Marian Barksdale, a member of the Oxford School District Board of Trustees since July 2005, is actively involved in the Oxford community. She serves as president of the School of Applied Technology, run jointly by the Oxford School District and the Lafayette County School District. Twice each week, Barksdale tutors students in her school district, something which she says is “real critical to keeping me abreast of the needs of individual students.” A graduate of Vanderbilt University, Barksdale until recently was a member of the advisory board of the William Winter Institute for Racial Reconciliation. She also is a former member of the board of the Yoknapatawpha Arts Council. During the 2008-09 school year, Barksdale served as a presidential appointee to the MSBA Board of Directors. A former board development and long-range planning consultant, Barksdale also has worked for the Mississippi Department of Archives and History, the Mississippi Arts Commission and the Metro Jackson Arts Alliance. She and husband Claiborne have three children: Jack, a freshman at Trinity University in San Antonio, TX and twin girls Norma and Mary Bryan, juniors at Oxford High School.
NEWLY ELECTED BOARD MEMBERS
Stephen Dodd, first elected to the DeSoto County School Board of Trustees in 1994, is employed by Federal Express in the Technology Services Division in Memphis. He received his B.A. in Journalism from the University of Memphis and earned an Associate of Applied Science Degree in Computer Science from State Technical Institute in Memphis. His community service includes being a member of the Board of Directors for Christian Ministries International. He and his wife, Dana, have one married daughter and one granddaughter.
Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the South Tippah School District, David Duncan has served on his local school board since 2006. A graduate of the University of Mississippi, he earned the B.A. degree in chemistry and the B.S. degree in pharmacy. He is enrolled in the Doctor of Pharmacy program at Shenandoah University in Winchester, Virginia, with expectations to graduate in Fall 2010. Duncan is employed as a pharmacist at Tippah County Hospital in Ripley. He and his wife Cathy have two adult children, Matt Duncan and Lauren Hopkins.
Barbara Jones, dean of Academic Affairs at Meridian Community College in Lauderdale County, is a member of the Lauderdale County School Board of Trustees. She received her B.S. and M.E. degrees from Delta State University and has done work toward a doctoral degree at Mississippi State University. She began her career as an English teacher and department chair in the Lauderdale County School District. Jones also is a volunteer with Big Brothers and Big Sisters and is a member of the Leadership Lauderdale Youth Advisory Board.
A board member in the Pearl Public School District for 17 years, Sondra Odom has served five terms as president of her local board. She is a former youth court counselor in Rankin County. Active in her community and church, Odom is a recipient of the Pearl Chamber of Commerce’s Pillar of the Community award. She and husband Steve are partners in several businesses in the Rankin County area. A 1976 graduate of Mississippi State University, Odom and her husband have two adult children.
Tommy Prude, a member of the Board of Trustees of the Columbus Municipal School District, began his first term on the board in March 1988. After a ten-year absence, he returned to the board in August 2001 and has served continuously since that time. Prude earned his Ed.S. and M.A. degrees from Mississippi State University in Starkville and a B.S. degree from Tennessee State University in Nashville. A retired U.S. Department of Defense civilian employee, his work experience includes serving as U.S. Air Force youth activities director, education services officer, education specialist, and guidance counselor. Prude currently serves as a volunteer chaplain at Baptist Memorial Hospital in the Golden Triangle area and serves on the board of Father’s Child Ministries.
A member of the Board of Trustees of the North Pike School District since 2003, Etta Taplin is a consultant specializing in grant writing. Formerly chief financial officer of the Amite County Medical Center and the SHARP Community Health Center, Taplin has a wealth of experience in finance, human resources, public relations and office management. She serves her community as a part of her church’s Rocky Point Gift Ministry Services, helped establish the Pike County Animal League Shelter and volunteered for several years as a member of the committee organizing the Mississippi March of Dimes efforts in Pike County. She and husband Estes Taplin have two children, one a college graduate and another attending the University of Southern Mississippi.