VALDOSTA — Three candidates are vying for Glenn Gregory’s former seat as the District 6 Lowndes County Board of Education representative.

After Gregory announced his resignation due to a residency change at the July 8 BOE meeting, the application for District 6, which is a large chunk of the northeastern side of the county, opened to residents of that area.

Philip Poole, Amy Stecz and Lynn Williams are the three candidates who submitted applications.

“The board, per the policy and statute, will appoint somebody by vote of the existing six board members to fulfill the balance of the unexpired term,” Lowndes County School Superintendent Wes Taylor said. “That will be in the near future, possibly next week or in September.”

Qualifying for the seat is in March 2020, the election would be held in May 2020 and the term doesn’t actually end until December 2020.

The board felt it would be too long to wait to fill the seat if it didn’t decide on someone to fill it soon.

“We want (District 6 residents) to have representation,” said Dave Clark, board chairman.

Poole served three four-year terms on the Lowndes County Board of Education until December 2016, after Gregory defeated him in the District 6 election.

Amy Stecz is a local business owner, while Lynn Williams is a retired county school teacher.

“The requirements are that they are a citizen of Lowndes County, and they live in that district,” Clark said. “Other than that, they’re free to run.”

According to the upcoming Aug. 12 meeting agenda, deciding on a representative is not an action item.

Katelyn Umholtz is a reporter with the Valdosta Daily Times. She can be contacted at (229)244-3400 ext. 1256.