Sean Suggs, Vice President of Manufacturing for Toyota Mississippi

The Mississippi State Board of Education is now fully staffed, thanks to an appointment by House Speaker Philip Gunn.

Gunn announced in a press release Friday that he has selected Sean Suggs to replace Bill Jones on the State Board of Education. Suggs is currently vice president of manufacturing for Toyota Mississippi.

“In the search for my appointment to the State Board of Education, I wanted to find a person with a good balance of private sector experience and education experience,” Gunn said in the statement. “With Sean’s leadership position at Toyota and his vast knowledge of workforce development, I am confident he will bring a unique perspective to the Board of Education.”

The nine-member board is responsible for adopting and implementing rules and policies for Mississippi’s public schools.

Current members are:

  • Board chair Rosemary Aultman; term expires July 2022
  • Jason Dean; term expires July 2024
  • Buddy Bailey; term expires July 2023
  • Kami Bumgarner; term expires July 2018
  • Karen Elam; term expires July 2021
  • Johnny Franklin; term expires July 2025
  • John Kelly; term expires July 2020
  • Charles McClelland; term expires July 2019

The governor appoints members from the state’s Northern, Central, and Southern Supreme Court Districts, respectively. The lieutenant governor appoints two members, and the House speaker also appoints two members. The other two members must be a public school teacher and a school administrator.

Suggs will serve a nine-year term.


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Kayleigh Skinner joined the Mississippi Today team in January 2017 as an education and legislative reporter and advanced to a senior staff member in her four years with the company. Skinner most recently served as deputy managing editor before assuming the role of managing editor. Kayleigh has a bachelor’s in journalism from the School of Journalism and New Media from the University of Mississippi. Before joining Mississippi Today, Kayleigh worked at The Hechinger Report, Chalkbeat Tennessee, and The Commercial Appeal. She has appeared on MSNBC, NPR, and BBC Newsday Radio to discuss her reporting.