JMC Education Vision committee meets, Board members react to Bob Alvey’s announcement

JACKSON, Tenn —  The Jackson-Madison county education vision committee met Tuesday night, discussing hot topics ahead of the upcoming school board meeting. School officials also spoke out about board chairman, Bob Alvey’s decision to not seek re-election.

Bob Alvey, who has dedicated 16 years of service to the Jackson-Madison county school system, will soon be leaving the school board family. Although school leaders are hard at work taking care of district business, many say they were surprised to learn of Alvey’s decision to not seek re-election.

“It did come as kind of a shock because I kind of thought that he was going to run for one more term,” Board member, Wayne Arnold said.

Superintendent Eric Jones says one member leaving can have a significant impact on the board’s dynamics. “He’s been a senior member of our board for awhile,” Dr. Eric Jones said. “And just his experiences over the years and the work that he’s done for the district always brought a calming influence to the school board,”

Recently elected members like Arnold says he’ll miss Alvey’s guidance. “His leadership as chairman of the school board the whole time that I’ve been here, his vision he’s helped guide me along as a new member,” Arnold said.

Although board members will have to deal with such a big change, there’s still a lot of business that needs to be handled. County commissioners and school officials are working to make the education foundation an official body.

“Once the bylaws have been approved the foundation will be official and in status,” Dr. Jones said.

The education foundation is made up of 9 members: 3 from the city, county, and school board. Funds from the city vs. county sales tax agreement will go in the education foundation.

“Anything that’s over $12 million and in between $13 million will go into an endowment setup in this foundation,” Dr. Jones said.

Dr. Jones says the funds going into the foundation will be used for the betterment of the education system as a whole.

Alvey did not attend Monday night’s work session, or the education vision committee meeting Tuesday night. The school board’s official meeting will be held at the central office this Thursday at 6 p.m.

The public is welcome to attend.