Vaught, Rourke compete in GOP primary for Rutherford County Zone 2 school board seat

Editors note: This is the second story in a three-part series about Rutherford County Board of Education candidates competing in the March 5 primary.

Republican voters will choose between Nicholas Rourke and Stan Vaught for the Rutherford County Board of Education Zone 2 seat in the March 5 primary.

Rourke is a food and hospitality professional, school parent and volunteer chapter captain for an All Pro Dad nonprofit that organizes monthly activities for children and fathers. Vaught is a farmer, real estate auctioneer, chairman of the Rutherford County Public Building Authority (PBA) and is a past elected member of the County Commission.

The GOP nominee will advance to the Aug. 1 election to face independents Robert Brooks and John Duncan.

The winning candidate will serve a four-year term starting in September to replace retiring 12-year school board member Coy Young. He also served as a board chairman for one year and vice chairman for two years.

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The Zone 2 seat represents the far northern part of the county from northern La Vergne on the northwest side to the rural Lascassas and Milton communities on the northeast side. The zone consists of Rutherford County Commission Districts 1, 2 and 3.

The elected candidate will join a seven-member board that oversees Schools Director Jimmy "James" Sullivan. The director manages more than 6,000 employees, and contracted bus drivers and substitute teachers. The large workforce provides services for a fast-growing district with nearly 52,000 pre-K through 12th-grade students.

Three other school board seats are up for election, including a Zone 5 seat held by unopposed Republican incumbent Claire Maxwell, the board vice chairwoman.

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Rourke: 'I want families to be a part of their kid’s lives'

Rourke said he's running to be more involved with helping children and making sure they are taken care of by schools and parents.

He mentioned that mental health is a big issue of concern.

"I want families to be a part of their kid’s lives," Rourke said. "I want to bridge the gap between families and kids."

One of Rourke's goals is to be personally involved with schools, and this could include helping teachers with bus duty and serving meals.

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Rourke mentioned how All Pro Dads has grown from 13 to 14 participants when he started in 2017 to monthly activities attracting 125 to 175 participants, which can include grandparents and mothers and children. One invent involved a field trip to Nissan Stadium to meet a manager with the Titans, he said.

"It gets dads communicating with their kids again," said Rourke, whose All Pro Dads meets at Rutherford County's Thurman Francis Arts Academy for high-achieving students in Smyrna. "It gives dads time with their kids."

His wife, Kara Rourke, is a teacher at Thurman Frances Arts Academy, where their son, Asher, is a fourth-grader. The couple's daughter, Lilli, is a sophomore at Oakland High School in Murfreesboro.

Rourke graduated in 1999 from Beech High School in Hendersonville. He's been a 16-year resident of Rutherford County. Rourke earned an associate's degree in 2012 in business with a focus on entrepreneurship from the Motlow State Community College campus in Smyrna.

Rourke also graduated in 2023 from Leadership Rutherford offered by the Rutherford County Chamber of Commerce. He's worked in the food service and hospitality industry for 29 years, including now as a waiter at Old Hickory Steak House at the Gaylord Opryland Resort and Convention Center in Nashville.

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Vaught: 'Education has been very important to me'

Vaught said he'd like to bring a different perspective with his experiences that include being a sixth-generation family farmer in Milton, a PBA chairman and a real estate auctioneer.

"I think I offer a unique perspective to the teachers, the students, the taxpayers and the voters," Vaught said.

He previously served as an elected member of the County Commission from 1986 to 1998. He advocated for the county to open McFadden School of Excellence for high achievers. His sons, Jackson and Chandler, attended the school. Jackson graduated from Oakland High and Vanderbilt University in Nashville, and Chandler graduated at Central Magnet School and Rhodes College in Memphis.

"Education has been very important to me," Vaught said. "My mother was a high school teacher."

His late mother, Nettie Laura Vaught, taught home economics at Central High (now Central Magnet) and Oakland High.

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Vaught's PBA leadership includes the authority building the county's Public Health and Safety Buildings that have opened in the Rockvale and Kittrell communities, and will open in the Lascassas, Walter Hill and the westside area off state Route 96 (Franklin Road) to provide Fire Rescue and Emergency Medical Services.

Vaught also is a chairman of the Farm Service Committee that serves as Rutherford County's liaison for the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

"I enjoy serving," Vaught said.

Vaught is a 1980 graduate of Oakland High School. He earned a degree in agriculture and education in 1985 from Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro. His wife, Terri, also graduated from Oakland High and MTSU. Stan Vaught initially planned to be a teacher but decided to pursue a career in the real estate auction business.

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Reach reporter Scott Broden with news tips or questions by emailing him at sbroden@dnj.com. Follow his tweets on the X social media platform @ScottBroden. To support his work with The Daily News Journal, sign up for a digital subscription.

Who's qualified for 2024 elections so far

• Rutherford County Property Assessor: Rob Mitchell, a Republican incumbent; Virgil Gammon, Republican

• Rutherford County Highway Superintendent: Greg Brooks, a Republican incumbent;

• Rutherford County Board of Education Zone 2: Stan Vaught, Republican; Nicholas Rourke, Republican; Robert Brooks, independent; John Duncan, independent

• Rutherford County Board of Education Zone 3: Caleb Tidwell, incumbent Republican; Timothy Holden, Republican; Tiffany Fee, Democrat; Lorri Johnson, independent

• Rutherford County Board of Education Zone 5: Claire Maxwell, Republican incumbent;

• Rutherford County Board of Education Zone 6: William "Butch" Vaughn, Republican; Chase Williams, Republican

• Murfreesboro City School Board (elected at large for four seats), with all who qualified running as independent candidates: George "Butch" Campbell, incumbent; Jimmy Richardson III, incumbent; David Settles, incumbent; Jeanette West-Price

Source: Rutherford County Election Commission staff

This article originally appeared on Murfreesboro Daily News Journal: Vaught, Rourke compete in GOP primary for Rutherford school board seat