A new president came to the helm of the Natchez-Adams County School Board Thursday night. In a 3-1-1, vote the board elected Copiah-Lincoln Community College professor Kenneth Taylor as president for the next year.

Taylor will replace outgoing president Terry Estes. Taylor said he was surprised at being elected since he has only served one year on the board.

&uot;I’m ecstatic that my other board members have that much faith in me that I can lead the board for the upcoming year,&uot; he said.

The members voted by anonymous ballot. Board members Dr. David Steckler and Terry Estes each got one vote for president. But Estes said board members have an agreement that after a certain length of time the job will be passed to someone else.

In also what was a 3-1-1 vote, board member Don Marion was reelected board secretary. Steckler and Taylor each got one vote in that race.

During the meeting, the board also tabled bids to renovate the Natchez Convention Center until it found out why one phase of the project received such a high bid. Phase 3 came in at $123,000 more than the estimate.

&uot;I question whether we should not rebid Phase 3 if we can,&uot; Steckler said.

The project includes renovating the building into an athletic field house and a band room. Superintendent Dr. Carl Davis said the increase may stem from changes needed to make the building suitable for a band. Jay-Van of Hattiesburg offered the low bid of $556,000 for the entire project.