Welcome! Thursday, March 28, 2024 | Login | Register
   
School Board Candidates: Jeff Jones

Jeff Jones 1. Why are you running for the school board? I received an excellent education because I attended Cleveland County Schools. I chose to come back to Cleveland County and spent my entire career teaching in our public school system. I believe that students are best served by a system that challenges them to grow academically, while also providing opportunities for participation in arts and athletics. I seek a position on the Board of Education, so I can continue to impact our students and our schools for the better. I understand the effects of state and local policies on students and teachers. I can share the perspective of what happens in the classroom. I will use the knowledge gained over 29 years in the classroom to help craft policies to improve our school system. 2. What are the big issues the school board will face in the next four years? One of the major challenges facing our school system is dealing with funding changes coming from the General Assembly. With possible cuts due to changes in funding for charter schools and the impact of Opportunity Scholarships that enable tax money to go to private schools, it is imperative that we are very careful to spend our diminishing pool of money in a way that best serves our students. There are a number of capital improvement decisions that the board will face, such as decisions about a new building at North Shelby School, possible auditoriums at Crest and Burns high schools, etc. Increasing the graduation rate will continue to be a major issue that our school system will face. 3. What are we doing right in the Cleveland County Schools? We have a number of things to celebrate in Cleveland County Schools. We have hired excellent teachers, teacher assistants, and staff at our schools. They consistently work above and beyond the call of duty to help all our students reach their potential. The Community Math Academy has done a great job of working with students and improving their math skills during the summer months. Our Robotics Program in the middle schools has been very positive in the advancement of our STEM competencies. The Closing The Gap Initiative has worked for over a decade to try to reach our families and communities in order to close the achievement gap. We also have excellent arts and athletics programs in our high schools, which offer chances for our students to hone their special talents and also give them chances to be a part of a team. Those programs further advance the values of hard work and dedication to achieving a goal. 3. What are we doing wrong? Cleveland County Schools face challenges in teacher retention, especially since the General Assembly has neglected the more experienced teachers in terms of raises in salary and also discontinued pay for advanced degrees. We must do all we can to keep our experienced teachers in Cleveland County. Mentoring of new teachers will continue to be a challenge, especially as experienced teachers leave the profession. We need to build greater trust in the school board and administration among all members of our community. We also need to continue efforts to truly become ONE school system in the minds of the community rather than three separate systems that merged into one unit. Background Information on Me I am a proud product of Cleveland County Schools, and have devoted my career to public education. I earned a Bachelor's Degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a Master's Degree from Appalachian State University. I recently retired from Cleveland County Schools after a career where I taught United States History, Advanced Placement United States History, Current Affairs and Issues, and a variety of other social studies courses. I also coached several sports, sponsored student clubs and extracurricular activities, and supported our arts programs. I served as a Mentor Teacher to a variety of initially certified teachers. I also served on the School Improvement Team and on numerous committees. I earned my National Board Certification in Adolescence and Young Adulthood Social Studies-History. I retired from the Cleveland County Schools in 2014 and currently work as an Adjunct Instructor at Cleveland Community College. My wife, Susan, and I have been married for 23 years. Susan is a Math Instructor at Cleveland Community College. We are members of Shelby Presbyterian Church. I serve as a musician on the Contemporary Service Praise Team. I also serve as the Chairman of the Cleveland County Adult Chapter of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes.


Printer-friendly format