As Friday afternoon’s (Sept. 4) qualifying deadline for school board hopefuls came and went, the name of one veteran school board member was noticeably absent from this year’s list of contenders.
Donna Jo Taylor, 66, of Cascilla, decided not to seek a seventh term on the East Tallahatchie School District Board of Trustees, where she has served for about 31 years.
Taylor, then Donna Jo Ross, served as an interim appointee to the board in 1990. That fall, she sought and was elected to her first full, five-year term in newly-created Education District 10.
Before 1990, district school board members had been elected on an at-large basis.
Last Wednesday, Bryant Anthony Watson, 52, of 3998 Cascilla-Grenada Road, Cascilla, filed qualifying papers to seek the ED 10 post presently held by Taylor.
As the lone qualifier for the seat, whose geographic area includes southeastern Tallahatchie County, Watson will be unopposed in the Nov. 3 general election.
In Education District 5, incumbent Cora B. Hooper, 64, of 1377 Apex Dr., Glendora, is being challenged for re-election by Ikema “Ike” Olive, 40, of 5986 Sharkey Road, Charleston.
Education District 5 is a position on the West Tallahatchie School District Board of Trustees and covers southwestern Tallahatchie County.
Members of both the East and West Tallahatchie school districts’ five-person boards of trustees serve staggered five-year terms, with one seat in each school district coming up for election every fall.
