A gasp of joy rang out from Cynthia Brown and her family in the municipal complex courtroom on Tuesday night after the city council appointed Brown to the Columbus Municipal School District Board of Trustees.
With a 4-2 vote, the council tapped Brown for a five-year term on the school board. She will replace Jason Spears, a two-term board member whom the council passed over on Tuesday.
Brown, who has a combined 40 years experience as a teacher and administrator, applied in 2021 for a CMSD board post, but incumbent Jo Shumake was ultimately reappointed. That did not deter her from trying again.
“I love this district. It’s where I went to school, where I’ve lived, where I’ve worked and put in time, and I want to continue that,” Brown said. “When you want something, you keep going until you get it. When I go at something, you’re going to have to watch out because if I say I’m going to do it, I might relax and look like I’m not doing anything, but my mind doesn’t ever stop.”
Brown earned the appointment this year from among four applicants, including Spears, local pastor J’Marcus Brooks and CMSD school safety officer Victor Salter.
Following presentations from each applicant before the council, Ward 6 Councilwoman Jacqueline DiCicco nominated Spears for reappointment, with Ward 3’s Rusty Greene offering a second.
Ethel Stewart, councilwoman for Ward 1, offered a substitute motion for Brown, which was seconded by Ward 2’s Joseph Mickens and joined by Pierre Beard of Ward 4 and Stephen Jones of Ward 5 for a 4-2 vote of approval. Greene and DiCicco opposed.
Brown, daughter of the late former Ward 4 councilman Fred Stewart, said she looks forward to continuing her career in education as well as honoring her father’s legacy of civil service.
“I’m overwhelmed with joy. I’m a little emotional right now,” Brown said. “My dad was a city council member for 15 years. He served the city and loved the city; we love the city. Before he passed a couple of months ago, we had a conversation last year around this time, and I talked to him about it. He liked politics but he never wanted his family involved. So I said, ‘Dad, I’m going to be on the school board.’ He said, ‘That’s a good spot for you.’ This spot for me is something in honor of him.”
Brown currently teaches third grade in the Pickens County, Alabama, School District. She previously worked in administrative roles at the Lowndes County School District and as a teacher at CMSD.
Though her nomination of Spears ultimately failed, DiCicco is hopeful for the future of the CMSD board.
“(Brown) made an excellent presentation and will do a great job. I just congratulated her,” DiCicco said. “I fully support her, (Superintendent) Dr. (Cherie) Labat and the Columbus school board. It’s important that we all work together for our children’s future.”
Before the vote, Spears said he was aware he would not be reappointed, but he passionately made his case anyway.
“At no one point has anyone ever said I’ve done a bad job. … You won’t hear that I haven’t been effective,” Spears said.
Despite losing out on his seat, Spears is grateful for the opportunity he was given over the last 10 years and is ready to continue to serve the community.
“There’s a lot of things I can look back and be proud of from my time on board. Certainly one of those is the financial stability the school district has, and I brought Dr. Labat here,” Spears said. “I’m not going away, I’m just shifting focus, but I’ll continue to be plugged in and plan to go to school board meetings from time to time. I’m going to continue to be an active citizen, which I know we need as many as possible in Columbus if we want to continue the potential our community deserves to achieve.”
Spears’ last school board meeting was March 7, and Brown will take over at the next CMSD board meeting. Brown is looking forward to the future and working with the board to help the next generation and those pushing them towards excellence.
“I want to be a positive asset, role model, whatever I can do to make this district better. I want to leave a legacy,” Brown said.
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