Longtime local educator Wanda Gibbs was unanimously selected Monday night to replace Rep. Kevin Vaughan as the Position 1 School Board member.
Gibbs, who taught at Collierville Elementary School for more than 20 years, will fill the vacancy through November 2020, when the term expires.
Mayor Stan Joyner said that Vaughan resigned from the position when it “became difficult for him to fulfill his obligations” with the School Board and in the state House of Representatives. Vaughan submitted his letter of resignation back in September.
Under town code, the Collierville Board of Mayor and Aldermen was responsible for naming his replacement.
Thirty individuals applied for the position and five interviews were conducted during various work sessions.
Noting that it was a “tough decision,” Alderman Maureen Fraser nominated Gibbs. Nominations then immediately ceased and the board unanimously voted in favor of Gibbs before loud applause erupted in the board chambers.
“I will not disappoint,” Gibbs told the board.
She added that the “town and everyone who has a stake in the children of Collierville” will not be disappointed.
“They are our children and we’re going to take care of them,” she noted.
Gibbs, who was sworn in on Tuesday, also worked for Germantown Elementary School and spent seven years teaching in Byahlia, Miss. before retiring in 2013.
