Phil Cordeiro chosen to fill vacant seat on Pender County Board of Education

PENDER COUNTY, N.C. (WECT) - Phil Cordeiro will be sworn in later this month to fill the vacant position on the Pender County Board of Education after being selected by the Pender County GOP.

“I’m humbled by the opportunity to help Pender County Schools continue its pursuit of scholastic achievement -- our community has an exciting future ahead,” Cordeiro said. “I appreciate Pender County’s diversity, from east to west, as someone who was raised on a small family farm in a rural community.”

The seat was left vacant after Brad George was selected to join the Board of Commissioners following Jimmy Tate’s departure.

Cordeiro was born in the California central valley as the youngest of five sons to his Portuguese immigrant parents. He joined the U.S. Marine Corps while he was an undergraduate and later retired at the rank of Major.

“Mr. Cordeiro holds a baccalaureate degree in political science conferred by the University of California at Berkeley, and master’s degrees in public administration and accounting -- both conferred by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He is also a member of the UNC School of Government’s alumni association and volunteers in support of local government education in North Carolina,” Pender County Schools stated in a release.

In local government, Cordeiro has served as a budget analyst with Wilmington, a finance officer with Hillsborough and as town manager for Youngsville. He moved to private practice as a consultant and is a certified public accountant in North Carolina.

He will be sworn in at the Board of Education meeting on March 21.

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