Candidates to fill the vacant Lamar County School Board District B seat began interviews with board members this week, Board President Jeremy Chance said after Monday’s board meeting in Purvis.
The seat became vacant last month when Carolyn Lott Adams resigned the position for personal reasons.
Chance said he did not plan to interview all of the candidates.
“I am fairly certain that some resumes looked better than others, appeared to fit in with the current board,” he said. “I don’t think that we will interview all eight candidates.”
Superintendent Tess Smith said she had received eight applications by the Aug. 6 deadline.
“We had eight people send in resumes and letters of interest,” she said. “It excites me to know there are that many people willing to serve the students of our district.”
Adams submitted her resignation last month after more than 40 years as an educator, with her resignation becoming effective July 31.
A special election will be held on Nov. 6 – the date of the General Election – to fill the vacant District B seat, Lamar County Circuit Clerk Martin Hankins said.
Adams has been a member of the Lamar County School Board since her election in 2016. She was inducted in the Pearl River Community College Hall of Fame in 2017.
Hankins said qualifying for the School Board seat will be from Aug. 8-Sept. 7.
“Candidates need to be aware that the district lines have changed since Lumberton was consolidated into the Lamar County schools,” he said.
Lumberton and Lamar County school districts completed their voluntary consolidation earlier this year and the district lines were redrawn to include all five high schools into the Lamar County School District. The consolidation took effect on July 1.
District B includes Oak Grove High School on the northern edge and runs along the eastern border of Lamar County until just north of Purvis High School.
