VWSD board approves July travel; who’s paying the bill isn’t so clear

VICKSBURG, Miss. (VDN) — During a short special-call meeting last week, the Vicksburg Warren School District (VWSD) Board approved travel for dozens of employees to attend out-of-state conferences. Superintendent Dr. Tori Holloway stated the expenses would be covered by federal funds, including carryover funds from the last fiscal year, yet board documents show some trips will be paid for using district money.

During the meeting VWSD Superintendent Dr. Tori Holloway recommended that all requested items, located under Agenda Item D be voted on as one vote.

“These are new employees,” said Holloway. “One is an employee who was left off of the original agenda because we’re all scrutinizing items on the agenda. These are being paid out of federal funds. Luckily, we had some federal funds left over from the previous fiscal year.”

“As I sent some of you all, the president [of the United States, Donald Trump] has frozen $6 billion dollars worth of federal funds three weeks before school starts, in Title II, which is how we pay for a majority of our travel, is a big portion of what he has frozen, but we had some carry over. So all of these are taken care of out of federal funds,” said Holloway.

However, the supplementary material attached to the board documents state that while most will be covered by federal funds, others show funds coming from VWSD departments. While the information is incomplete, the available information shows nearly $10,000 in district funds being used for travel expenses.

Travel to be paid using Federal Funds:

• Elevate Conference – Austin, Texas
  July 7-9, 2025
  Participant: Laura Kidder
  Cost to District: $0
  
• Mississippi Association of School Superintendents (MASS) Summer Conference – Biloxi, Mississippi July 13-16,2025
  Participants: Nicholas Dotson, Thymeka Edwards, Krystal Cole, Kelvin Neal, Stacey Vaughn, Robert
  Lamkin, Katrina Hills, Keith Wolfe, Cedric Magee, LaShandra McClure, Tiffany Hicks
  Cost to District: $0
  
• Innovative School Summit-Nashville, Tennessee
  July 14-18, 2025
  Participant: Justin Watkins
  Cost to District: $0
  
• Making Schools Work Conference – New Orleans, Louisiana
  July 15-18, 2025
  Participants: Candy Thompson, Tasha Thompson
  Cost to District: $0
  
• Music Teacher Conference-New York City, New York
  July 17-21, 2025
  Participants: Christie Beasley, Ashley Davidson, Candice Reeder, Chesley Lambiotte
  Cost to District: $0
  
• School Nutrition Association (SNA) – Annual National Conference (ANC) 2025 – San Antonio
  July 13-15, 2025
  Participant: Keba Laird
  Cost to District: $0

Travel to be paid using District Funds:

• 2025 Mississippi Association of School Resource Officers (MASRO) Conference – Biloxi, Mississippi July 13-18
  Participant: Glentrice Johnson
  Cost to District: No information provided
  
• School Nutrition Association (SNA) – Annual National Conference (ANC) 2025 – San Antonio
  July 13-15, 2025
  Participants: Falana Brown and Sherita Jones
  Cost to District: $6,599.68
  
• ASCA National Convention – Long Beach, CA.
  July 11-15, 2025
  Participants: Neil Price
  Cost to District: $1671.47

The Vicksburg Daily News reached out to seek clarification from VWSD Superintendent Dr. Tori Holloway on the morning of July 3, the same day of the meeting. That afternoon, Dr. Holloway responded by clarifying that he had said some, not all, of the employees were new, but did not address the apparent discrepancy regarding the source of travel funds, and stated that he would clarify on Monday, July 7.

While this special call meeting was not recorded by the district, Vicksburg Daily News did record the meeting for their notes.

As of 12 p.m. Tuesday, July 8, the Superintendent has not responded for further clarification.