The Picayune School District Board of Trustees have retained their slate of officers for another term.

By a unanimous vote Tuesday, the board kept in place Chairperson Frank Ford, Vice-Chairperson Jake Smith, Secretary Edward Stubbs, Second Secretary Josh Robertson and member David Mooneyham.

That vote was followed by a special appreciation for the board members by Superintendent Dean Shaw, noting the recent observance of School Board Member Recognition Week.

Shaw presented each member with a certificate for “their dedicated service on behalf of the students and the Picayune School District.”

“I know it’s a thankless job,” he said. “On our tour you saw a lot of great things and it’s because you allowed our schools to do these things. Thank you for a job well done.”

Shaw also announced the district was one out of only five districts in the state to receive the 2019 Lighthouse School Leader Award.

He said the district had to have no school score below a “C” and have a 90 percent or greater number of students on free or reduced lunches.

“I thank all of our administrators, our principals, assistant principals, teachers and students for a job well done,” Shaw said.

“I’d also like to thank our parents. We have some outstanding parents in our district and we appreciate everyone doing their part.”

Dr. Brandon Johnson of the district’s Office of Federal Programs reported on recent iReady testing results that showed significant improvement for reading and math in grades 1-6.

He said the percentage of students district wide scoring in the lowest tier has decreased from 25 percent to 17 percent.

In math, that difference is even greater with the number of students in the lowest tier decreasing from 20 percent to 9 percent.

“This all translates into student growth,” Johnson said. “Much credit goes to our teachers.”

Shaw praised the school staffs for their hard work.