Starkville aldermen will now make two school board appointments this year after Starkville-Oktibbeha Consolidated School District Board of Trustees President Jenny Turner confirmed she won’t seek a second term and will step away from her leadership position in March.
Turner, whose term expires March 3, confirmed to The Dispatch her intention Friday via email, saying her five years on the school board have been “both a rewarding and challenging experience.”
“My daughter graduated from Starkville High School in 2014, and my son is a senior this year, so it is an appropriate time for me to complete my service to the board of trustees,” she wrote. “Our community has a dedicated board of trustees combined with committed teachers and administrators who do an outstanding job of serving our students every day. With the successful consolidation of our school districts and the future opening of the partnership school (a grades 6-7 campus planned in conjunction with Mississippi State University), it is an exciting time for our students and district. The resources and opportunities available to our students grow every day.”
Starkville aldermen previously set Feb. 15 as the deadline for public letters of interest for the position.
Turner’s departure means the school board will have three new members this year. SOCSD Trustee Anne Stricklin is expected to vacate her seat by the end of the academic year since the University of Florida hired her husband, Scott, as its athletic director last year, and the board’s newest trustee, John Brown, took over his seat after winning his 2016 election bid.
SOCSD Superintendent Lewis Holloway will also leave his position in June, capping a five-year career at the school system.
Trustees are working with the Nebraska-based search firm McPherson & Jacobson to find his replacement. Interviews for the position are expected to begin later this month, and a new hire could be announced in the spring.
Carl Smith covers Starkville and Oktibbeha County for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter @StarkDispatch
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