Longtime Carroll County School Board Trustee Laura Davis was honored recently for her more than three decades of serving the students of Carroll County.
Students, parents, alumni, and faculty from Carroll County schools cheered Davis on at a special program held at Marshall Elementary School. Her fellow elected officials were also in attendance to say thank you for her many years of service.
“[The children] brought me 36 roses for my 36 years,” Davis said.
In addition to her years as a school board trustee for Carroll County, Davis has spent her entire career as an educator.
Davis graduated from Alcorn State University with a bachelor’s degree in business education, minoring in English. From there she taught at Thomasville in Rankin County before going to Leflore County where she taught adult education. Davis went on to Mississippi Valley State University where she worked in financial aid.
While at Mississippi Valley State, Davis took classes and became certified in special education. She taught special education at both Leflore County High School and Duck Hill Elementary, where she retired in 1999.
Davis said she was approached by a man she knew about running for a seat on the Carroll County School board. She accepted the challenge and was the first African American elected to serve on the Carroll County School Board.
“When I first got on the board, we would meet until 10 or 11 at night,” Davis said. “We were paid $20 per month, and then we finally went up to $40. Then it went up to $200 [per month].”
In the early days when trustees only received $20 per month and she was still working as a teacher, Davis said if a special meeting was called, it cost her $35 to pay a substitute so she could attend the meeting.
“I’ve been through five superintendents in my time,” Davis said.
As a school board member, Davis said she is most proud of the construction of the J.Z. George High School gymnasium and band hall.
“I remember when our kids [who played basketball] were going all the way to Vaiden to practice,” Davis said. “We had that ‘White Elephant” at J.Z. George.”
Davis said the White Elephant was a wooden building moved to the J.Z. George campus from Camp McCain. It served as a gymnasium in the school’s early days.
Today, J.Z. George has a state-of-the-art air-conditioned gymnasium used for multi-purpose events and sports. In addition, a separate band hall was constructed to house the reinstated band program at the school.
As a school board member, Davis also holds another distinction. She was the first ever Mississippi School Board Member of the Year, named in 2009 by the Mississippi School Boards Association.
According to the Mississippi School Boards Association, Davis was nominated for the honor by a fellow board member. Out of a pool of 19 nominees for the inaugural honor, Davis was selected and honored during the Lighthouse School Leader Awards Luncheon of the Mississippi School Boards Association.
“I’ve been on the school board all these years, and it has been fun,” Davis said. “I got on the school board to do what is best for those children. I love those kids. You don’t mess with my kids.”
Davis has announced she will not seek re-election in November.
