Three running for Two WP School Board positions

There will be two people elected to the West Plains School Board of Education this Tuesday, April 2, and three people are in the running for the positions. The two men running for the school board are longtime members of the board Jimmy Thompson and Brian Mitchell. The third name on the ballot belongs to local business owner Shealia Harper.

 

Jimmy E. Thompson was first elected to the school board in 1987 and is the current board president. Thompson graduated West Plains High School in 1969 and holds a BS from MSU-West Plains and an MBA from MSU. He retired from Air Evac in 2021 after 20 years as an avionics technical support advisor. Thompson had three children who graduated from the West Plains School District in the 1990's, and one grandson who graduated in 2016.

 

Brian Mitchell was first elected to the school board in 2013 and graduated from West Plains High School in 1990. He attended Linn Tech and worked for the City of West Plains for many years, currently working as the Transportation Director for the city. He has two sons who are Zizzer graduates.

 

Shealia Flowers Harper is running to be elected to the West Plains School Board. She has previously served on the West Plains Chamber of Commerce Board. She and her husband, Roger, are the owners of Easley's Body Shop, a full-service auto body repair shop located on US 160 south of West Plains.

 

She told Howell County News she is running because, “Things in our world have been changing a lot over the past several years -- some for the better and some, I feel, for the worst. I have grandchildren in the R-7 school district, and I would like to contribute and help in any way I can…I have prayed about this for a long time and it all has just came together this time.”

 

Those participating in the April 2 election that will be voting on the West Plains School Board of Education candidates will fill in the circles by the names of the two candidates they choose.