The newest member of the Columbus Municipal School District board of trustees is a wife, working mother and volunteer with two children in the school system.
Aubra Arletta Turner was appointed to the board Tuesday at the Columbus City Council meeting. The vote was 4-2 to hire the 1995 graduate of Columbus High School.
“I feel that I have the ability to make an impact in our school system. Being that I have two young children that attend city schools, I’m able to identify and relate to the many challenges that our teachers and students are facing,” she said.
Turner did not elaborate on what those challenges are, other than to say she is open-minded and will make decisions in the best interests of the community.
Turner and her husband, Brian Jason Turner, live in Columbus and are the parents of two daughters, 7-year-old Madisyn and 10-year-old Marian. The girls attend Cook Elementary Fine Arts Magnet School, where Madisyn is a second-grader and Marian is a fifth-grader.
“They’re really excited,” she said of the girls’ reactions to her new responsibilities.
Aubra Turner uses her marketing consultant skills as the local sales manager for Urban Radio Broadcasting in Starkville. She previously worked at WCBI-TV in Columbus as a sales assistant.
She holds a bachelor’s degree in mass communication with a concentration in public relations from Jackson State University and a master’s degree in work force educational leadership from Mississippi State University.
“I believe my educational background, experience working with many youth in diverse settings and my interpersonal and marketing skills make me an excellent candidate for this position,” she said.
Turner has worked with the Read Across America program of the National Education Association and as a volunteer with the Boys and Girls Club of Columbus, Mitchell Elementary in Columbus and Blackburn Middle School and Watkins Elementary, both in Jackson.
She said she has not met any of the other board members but is looking forward to it when she is sworn in Jan. 9.
Turner fills the seat previously held by Alma Turner, who resigned Nov. 1, citing health reasons. The women are not related. The board seats are five-year terms; Aubra Turner’s term will end March 2, 2014.
And she is interested in staying beyond that date to serve a full term.
“I would definitely consider it,” she said.
Each board member gets a $200-a-month stipend from the school district. The board is responsible for overseeing a $43 million budget. The district has about 4,500 students, according to the Mississippi Department of Education website.
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