By Wes Tomlinson 

For the Enquirer  

Funeral director Geoff Halbrooks defeated longtime incumbent Jimmy Dobbs for the District 5 Morgan County Board of Education seat March 5.  

Halbrooks received 5,665 votes, or 74.93%, to 1,895 votes, or 25.07%, for Dobbs in the district containing Priceville schools and the former Sparkman Elementary. 

There are no Democratic challengers, so Halbrooks will face no major-party opposition in November. 

Halbrooks said the reason he believes his campaign did so well against a 24-year incumbent is because of his reputation in the community through his work at Peck’s Funeral Home for 41 years. 

He said his top priority is to thoroughly learn about the Morgan County school district. 

“I’d like to see what our issues are that keep us from being a greater system,” Halbrooks said. 

Dobbs said he respected the public’s vote and wishes Halbrooks well. He was first elected to the Morgan County school board in 2000. 

Jimmy Dobbs

During Dobbs’ tenure with the school board, the district has built and renovated several schools including new high schools for Priceville and West Morgan, a new gymnasium at Danville, athletic training facilities at all five high schools, new classrooms at Union Hill, and construction of a new junior high school in Priceville. He said the school board also plans to add more classrooms at Falkville Elementary and they plan to add a new wing to Priceville Elementary. 

Halbrooks said last week he was concerned with teacher turnover rates in Morgan County and would work to establish an incentive to hire and retain new teachers. 

“I want to see our schools as a place where people want to work there,” Halbrooks said. “We need to have good communication, right down from the leadership to the classroom level.” 

Halbrooks said parents of Morgan County students deserve more transparency after the closure of Sparkman Elementary in May 2023. 

“We need to be open with the taxpayer because it’s the taxpayer who elects us and we owe it to them,” Halbrooks said. 

He will take office on Jan. 1 and receive an annual salary of $9,000.