SCHOOL BOARD ELECTIONS: Jones plans to use experience to help lead JMCSS

Dwight Jones grew up in Haywood County and spent his entire career serving in the United States Marine Corps.

Since retiring, his family has moved near home to neighboring Madison County.

Last year, he signed up to be considered by the Madison County Commission to sit in the seat on the Jackson-Madison County School Board vacated by former JMCSS Board member Scott Gatlin.

Out of four people who signed up, he essentially finished second in a process that took two months’ of meetings before Marcia Moss was ultimate chosen for the seat.

Nearly a year later, Moss is running for re-election as the Republican incumbent. Jones is challenger her as the Democratic nominee.

“I’ve got a child in the school system, and I believe with my experience in management and policy development that I can be an asset to the Board and the school system,” Jones said. “I spent more than 25 years in management in the Corps, and I was involved in policy development, procedures, organization and implementation.

“And I believe that experience – even though a school district is a lot different from a Marine Corps – can be valuable at the level of the board.”

Jones bases his campaign on four pillars – trust, courage, integrity and accountability.

“If I’m elected, I’ll bring those assets to the Board and use them when communicating with other Board members, the Superintendent and the public.”

When asked one positive thing he sees in the district, he said his child in the district is progressing positively.

“My child is becoming a critical thinker, and the work in reading and math has improved dramatically,” Jones said.

One thing Jones said he hopes to see change is an increase in security for the school system.

“I know this isn’t necessarily something the Board has control over, but if there’s anything the Board can do to get SROs in every school, I’ll do what I can as one of nine people on the Board to do what we can,” Jones said. “Because I know all of us who are parents with children in the district want our kids to get an education, and we want them to be safe.

“So as a district, we need to do everything we can from the level of the Board and Superintendent all the way down to the students to ensure both of those things are happening.”

Early voting begins on July 12, and Jones encouraged anyone who lives in District 5 to log onto jonesforschools.org to learn more about his platform.

Brandon Shields, brandon@jacksonpost.news