Jenny Turner is the newest member of the Starkville School District board of trustees.
The Starkville Board of Aldermen voted unanimously Tuesday to name Turner, who has two children in the district, to the five-member board. Turner will replace board member and former board president Pickett Wilson, whose term expires in March.
Turner will relinquish her part-time position as the city’s administrative hearings officer before she takes her seat on the board.
“I think it’s an exciting time,” Turner said. “We’re getting ready to hire a new superintendent, and our facilities are probably the best they’ve been in a long time. We’ve got great faculty and administrators. It’s a great time for us to look forward.”
Turner is an active member of the Starkville Parent-Teacher Association and the Starkville Foundation for Public Education. Turner said she’ll bring a unique perspective to the board because of her volunteer efforts and her experience as a licensed lawyer.
“Being involved with PTA, the Foundation and Parents for Public Schools — you have to have a passion for public schools, for your community,” Turner said. “I think you need to see that passion from your board members.”
Aldermen Jeremiah Dumas and Henry Vaughn recused themselves from the discussion and the vote because each has a spouse that works in Starkville School District.
Turner was one of four people to interview with aldermen Tuesday night. Starkville Foundation President Doug Bedsaul, who said he has more than 600 volunteer hours with Starkville schools, highlighted his work with the PTA’s Hard Work Cafe, which honors students for extra effort and being on the honor roll. Bedsaul said one of his chief goals was to pursue grants to help teachers creatively teach material within state frameworks.
In addition to Turner, MSU professor Sylvia Byrd, who has three children in the district, provided insight and detail into her work with the district and her plans for bolstering the school board. Like all the candidates, Byrd championed an open line of communication between administrators and parents. But Byrd mainly focused on her desire to use as much data possible to establish clear goals and to adopt policies to ensure they’re met. Byrd has worked with the district to establish healthy initiatives in schools.
As a professor, Byrd said she has a unique view of how unprepared students are when they enter college. She said uniting stakeholders and narrowing the focus on the most important issues would be her goal.
“We’re a divided district,” Byrd said. “I can remember thinking, uniforms are the least of our worry. As a parent, I was not very focused on that because I was looking at the bigger picture. As an educator, (I see) our children are coming less and less prepared.”
Starkville resident Jonita Thompson also interviewed Tuesday.
The only board member whose term expires this year or next is current Board President Keith Coble. Eddie Myles’ term ends in 2014, while Lee Brand’s term will expire in 2015. Eric Heiselt’s term ends in 2016.
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