School board vice chairman Tim Morgan won’t run for reelection

Charlotte-Mecklenburg school board vice chairman Tim Morgan announced Thursday that he will not run for reelection this fall – but did not say what lies next for him.

Morgan said he is considering several options, all of which would keep him involved in public education. He will serve out the remainder of his term, which ends in December.

Sources have connected Morgan to next year’s race for a state House seat. He reportedly has been interested in Rep. Jacqueline Schaffer’s seat in southeast Charlotte’s District 105. Morgan declined to say whether that was one of the options he is considering.

Morgan, an Independence High alum, has served on the school board since 2009 when he was first elected to represent the southern Mecklenburg County towns of District 6. Two years later, he was elected to an at-large position by voters across the county.

Morgan’s announcement Thursday at the Government Center also included an endorsement of school board candidate Jeremy Stephenson for the at-large position he currently fills. Both are Republicans, though school board races are officially nonpartisan.

Stephenson said he has raised more than $30,000 so far and has racked up endorsement from a number of influential local politicos, including N.C. Rep. Rob Bryan, former Charlotte mayor pro-tem Lynn Wheeler and school board members Rhonda Lennon and Eric Davis.

But he also is part of a crowded field. Board chairwoman Mary McCray and current at-large school board member Ericka Ellis-Stewart are both running for re-election.

Other declared at-large candidates include Elyse Dashew, Levester Flowers and Amelia Stinson-Wesley.

This story was originally published July 2, 2015 at 8:29 AM with the headline "School board vice chairman Tim Morgan won’t run for reelection."