The Lamar County School District Board of Trustees could have a nominee by its next meeting for the District B seat, which became vacant last month when Carolyn Lott Adams resigned the position for personal reasons.
Superintendent Tess Smith said she had received eight applications by the Monday 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.”
Smith said she plans to turn the names and information over to Board President Jeremy Chance.
“It is my understanding that he and another board member will conduct the interviews,” she said. “Hopefully, the will have someone by our Aug. 13 board meeting.”
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. However, she grew up in education. Her father, Rankin Clinton, was the Oak Grove superintendent from 1945-59.
"In 1950, I lived in the teacher's home," Adams said during an earlier interview. "My mother sent me running barefoot to tell them the school was on fire."
Adams was inducted in the Pearl River Community College Hall of Fame in 2017
Adams attended Pearl River in 1958-59. She retired from the Lamar County School District after almost 40 years as a teacher and administrator. PRCC began the Lifetime Achievement Hall of Fame in 2012 with a secondary purpose of linking them to the PRCC Honors Institute.
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.
