The deadline to apply for the vacant Columbus school board seat has passed and one more applicant has stepped forward.
Adrienne Morris, of Columbus, has joined Hosea Heard, an operator technician for Weyerhaeuser; Currie B. Fisher, owner of an independent consulting firm; and Clifford Reynolds, principal of West Lowndes High School, in vying for the Columbus city school board appointment. One of the four applicants will replace 10-year school board veteran Julie Jordan, who stepped down in January to take a job with the Mississippi School Board Association in Jackson.
The Columbus City Council will make its decision at its Feb. 18 meeting.
Morris works as a learning and development specialist in the human resources management department at Mississippi State University. The 1999 graduate of West Lowndes High School holds a double bachelor”s degree in business administration (marketing and management) from MSU as well as a master”s degree in workforce education leadership from MSU. She is currently working toward her second master”s degree in public policy and administration from MSU.
She says her interest in serving on the school board stems first and foremost from her daughter, Logan, who is a kindergartner at Stokes-Beard Elementary.
“I”m definitely invested and very interested,” said Morris. “I have a child in this system so I”m making sure not only my daughter, but other children, are on a really straight path and we”re doing everything we can to make sure they get the skills they need.”
Morris says she”s qualified and experienced in all aspects of board membership, including education, budgeting and policy-making.
In addition to her master”s degree in education, she”s worked as a consultant for Starkville In Motion in 2009, helping Starkville schools secure a Safe Routes To School grant, and currently serves as co-chair for MSU”s Excellence in Administrative Support Commission. Morris also works part-time as an adult basic education instructor at the Greater Columbus Learning Center.
Jason Browne was previously a reporter for The Dispatch.
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