Davis sole applicant for SOCSD Board seat

A single Starkvillian has applied to serve on the Starkville-Oktibbeha Consolidated School District Board of Trustees.

For the third time, Sumner Davis has applied to serve on the board, filling the seat left vacant by Melissa Luckett. Luckett resigned in February after she moved from the city of Starkville to Oktibbeha

County, and was no longer allowed to serve in one of the three seats chosen by the Starkville Board of Aldermen.

Davis lost the seat to Anne Stricklin on his first try and to current school board assistant secretary Debra Prince on his second attempt.

“I applied for the school board, because I believe in our school district,” Davis said. “I believe in our school district. I believe in the good things it’s doing, and I want to help try to maintain the level of excellence our school district has, and I felt like this is the right time and the right opportunity for me to help do that.”

He is currently employed by the Mississippi State University Extension as department and governmental training specialist with the Center for Government and Community Development. He also plans and delivers educational programs for county and municipal officials. He served two terms as Starkville’s Ward 1 Alderman from 2001 to 2009.

He said his background in municipal government and finance would add to the school board.

“What I do on a day-to-day basis is work with county and municipal government and officials across the state providing educational material, classes and technical assistance to them on topics that range from taxation, budgeting, general government operations, those types of issues,” Davis said.

Davis has two children in the district, one in eighth grade at Armstrong Middle School and one in fifth grade at Overstreet Elementary. He holds a bachelor’s in history and a master’s in public policy, both from MSU.

“A strong school system is the backbone of any community,” Davis said. “That’s well-documented. It is embedded in the fabric of our community life, and it leads to everything else that the

city and our community will deal with in community and economic development.”

The Starkville Board of Aldermen will interview and vote on Davis in April.

Former school board President and current school board member Keith Coble’s seat will become open later this year once Coble’s term expires. Coble’s seat is one of the two elected by citizens of Oktibbeha County. Coble told the SDN he does not intend to run again after a decade on the board.