Sherrie Ford, R-Lookout Valley, was sworn in Wednesday night to fill an open District 11 seat on the Hamilton County school board, left vacant by Democrat Jill Black at the end of August.
Ford is a retired longtime Hamilton County Schools employee who ran for the district’s school board seat in 2024 as the Republican candidate and lost to Black by 137 votes.
Ford was nominated along with Vanessa Jackson on Oct. 28 at the Hamilton County Commission’s regular meeting. Ford garnered a one-vote majority with votes from the six Republican commissioners on the 11-member board. The same six commissioners then voted to pass a resolution installing her on the school board.
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“I’m just very excited to have been appointed to the position,” Ford said in an interview after she was sworn in. “I’m ready to hit the ground running.”