By Rupert Howell
Two incumbent school board members, one in North Panola and one in South Panola, will serve another term although you will not see them on the general election ballot November 4.

Current South Panola trustee Lygunnah Bean and North Panola trustee Deborah Tucker will each serve additional five-year terms beginning in January 2015 as no other candidates qualified for the positions.

State statute does not require that they be on the ballot if unopposed, which will ultimately save taxpayers’ dollars. 

A trustee election would require special absentee ballots be printed in their respective school sub-districts and additional programming on county voting machines.

Tucker was just elected last November when that school district was in the final stages of coming off of probation. Terms for that new board were staggered so that one would become vacant each year until the five year rotation was complete.

Bean, who will be serving his fifth term, has served as president of the Mississippi School Boards Association’s board of directors and is currently a member of that board.