Forum provides insight into school board election candidates
JACKSON, Tenn. — Thursday afternoon, parents and community members got to learn more about the men and women asking for your vote in this year’s Jackson-Madison County School Board election.
“Plain and simple, if you got children in the school system, you need to find out who these candidate are and who they’re not,” said Jackson resident Johann Merx.
Candidates participated virtually and in-person at Jackson City Hall. They answered questions about how they plan to better education for students.
Some candidates were not present for the forum, including O’Neal Henley. He was recently in the spotlight for a controversial post he shared on his personal Facebook page.
Henley deleted the post and later apologized. Some candidates brought up the issue, calling the post inappropriate.
The major topic of the night was COVID-19.
“I got a daughter that’s going to be going to public school,” said Renisha Key, who is the mother of JMCSS student. “And since coronavirus and everything has been going on, I would just like to know how they going to do things and what’s going to go on.”
“The school system is very important and we got the COVID-19, and I’m looking at and hearing candidates talking about the issue of that, and the children are probably the most important thing of the American future,” Merx said.
Candidates gave their opinions on whether students and faculty should be mandated to wear a mask.
“I did hear some candidates say there were issues about the masks and the children possibly not having to wear them. That was quite shocking,” Merx said.
Some community members say the current path of the school system is encouraging, and the ones elected should align themselves in the direction it’s moving.
“I feel like the school district is ready to move forward, and I believe we got the right person in place: the superintendent,” said Jackson resident Michael Day.
They’re looking forward to the future for students.
“I just believe that Jackson, Tennessee is on the way up,” Day said.
During the forum, candidates also talked about implementing smaller classrooms, screening students returning for the fall and outsourcing janitorial services.
