Reeves says Stirgus booked premium while teachers booked economy

VICKSBURG, Miss. (VDN) — According to a press release from Vicksburg-Warren School District candidate Tim Reeves, current District 3 Board member Jim Stirgus Jr. was booked in Delta Comfort+ seating and assigned a higher daily reimbursement than teachers headed to the same Orlando conference. Reeves said he obtained the records through a public records request filed to the district’s home office.

Reeves claims the teachers were booked in standard economy; however, Stirgus was allotted $86 per day in per diem, compared with $72 for the teachers. Further examination reveals Stirgus’ mileage reimbursement rate was also higher than teachers, in addition to him receiving more expensive seating.

Reeves addressed the discrepancies on his social media page.

“We set out to report how much taxpayer money has been spent on Mr. Stirgus’s unnecessary travel over his many years in office,” Reeves said. “We never expected to find a double standard that is an outright insult to the teachers our children and community depend on. It would appear Mr. Stirgus has used the school district as his personal travel agency. He has forgotten that serving on the school board is about service and bettering our shared future.”

In the August Board of Trustees meeting the Board voted on sending Stirgus, Superintendent Dr. Tori Holloway, and Assistant Superintendent Eric Green to Orlando, Fla., to attend the National Career Academy Coalition’s annual conference. Their travel was canceled after it failed to win the majority vote from the school board; however, the educators’ travel to the same conference was approved by the board.

Reeves claims the Orlando booking was not an isolated case. According to documents obtained by Reeves, from November 2025 through July 2026, Stirgus took five trips — twice to Nashville and once each to Biloxi, Louisville, and Flowood — at a cost to taxpayers of $14,024.87. On every trip which required a flight, he was booked in Comfort+, which Delta says includes extra legroom, dedicated overhead bins, early boarding, premium snacks, and complimentary beverages.

Reeves postured that at that rate of spending, Stirgus’s travel over his 17 years on the board would total more than $300,000. However, this number cannot be confirmed according to Reeves because the district chose not to provide invoices, receipts, or travel plans before November 2025, as requested.

Regarding earlier years, Reeves said he was directed by the district to view hundreds of records, meeting agendas, accounts payable logs, and travel approvals posted online. Records before 2012 are not available online at all.

Due to the financial stress the district currently faces, Reeves said the amounts matter.

“Some would ask why I’m concerned with travel costs,” Reeves said in his online release. “Well, we have a district in financial crisis, with an approved budget projecting a nearly $2 million shortfall, and under continued scrutiny from the state auditor’s office for chronic delays in filing audits, repeated findings of waste, fraud, and abuse, and reporting deficiencies.”

Reeves also addressed the controversial 2025 trip to Hawaii. He said the records provided do not cover Stirgus’s trip to Hawaii for the same national conference. After a public outcry, the trip was paid for by an anonymous donor through the Vicksburg-Warren County Chamber of Commerce Community Fund. Because it was privately funded, its costs are not a matter of public record.

Reeves said the issue is relevant to the upcoming election.

“I can’t imagine how someone could be so blind in their judgment as to feel they are owed better seats than the teachers, more per diem than the teachers, and more mileage reimbursement than the teachers they serve,” Reeves said. “Mr. Stirgus admitted it himself last year when he said, ‘I’ve been on this board for 16 years, and in that time, I’ve just about been around the world.’ It’s time his so-called service to this community ends.”

Reeves said in his release the records released by the school district partially fulfill a request his campaign filed and paid for on Sept. 3. According to the candidate, his campaign has requested a full accounting of Stirgus’s travel since he joined the board in 2009.

VDN is currently verifying all claims by the Reeves campaign and will post documents for public review once verified.