New Hanover County School Board
Jerry Jones, Democratic challenger
Career: Environmental chemist, bookstore owner
Education: MBA, BS Physics, BS History/Political Science
Q: Why should voters support you to represent them on the New Hanover County Board of Education?
A: Elected officials should be true representatives, and my professional and personal experiences have prepared me to do this work. I have degrees in history, economics, physics, and business, so I know the value of a well-rounded education. I’ve been a teacher, so I know firsthand what our educators face. I’m a small-business owner, so I know what it’s like to balance a budget and have people rely on you. I’ve raised kids in New Hanover County, so I know the feeling of parents hoping their kids will be loved and seen and educated. And — this often feels like the part that drives me most — I was a kid who grew up in poverty, so I know how crucially important it is for every child in our county to have a quality education.
Elected representatives should also know how to put their ego aside to do the best thing for the people they represent. As a laboratory scientist, I’ve been taught to collect the necessary data before reaching a conclusion, instead of assuming I already know the right answer. I believe it matters to have leaders who are willing to listen to experts, acknowledge mistakes, reconsider assumptions, and change course when the evidence calls for it. These are values I would bring to the board of education.
Q: Name one top policy change you want to see and how you will get that passed.
A: One of my top policy priorities is to change the way New Hanover County thinks about school facilities and capacity. Schools should be treated as essential infrastructure, just like roads, water, sewer and housing. Growth decisions affect our schools, and our education system should be part of long-term county planning rather than reacting after development has already occurred.
I would work with district staff, the county commission and county planning staff to develop a more formal process for evaluating the educational impact of growth and development. That means looking at school capacity, transportation, staffing, and facility needs early enough to plan for them rather than waiting until overcrowding or deferred maintenance becomes a crisis. I would build support by grounding the proposal in district data and by working across governing bodies that share responsibility for growth and infrastructure, including more aggressively seeking funding from The Endowment.
Q: The current school board and district staff have been clear about the shortcomings in the state's funding model and the limitations of county funding. What new solution or approach would you bring to the table?
A: When funding limits our ability to add positions, I think we have to attack the workload we are placing on the employees we already have. Teachers and other educators are routinely asked to take on administrative and supervisory responsibilities in addition to their primary work with students. Reducing that burden can create more time for teaching without pretending that it solves the underlying staffing problem.
I would ask the district to identify non-instructional tasks that could appropriately be reassigned, consolidated or supported in other ways. That could include building a more structured corps of screened volunteers for duties such as lunch, recess or car line support, as well as exploring flexible part-time support (gig jobs, think UberEats or Lyft) for administrative tasks that do not require a licensed educator. Any such program would need clear safeguards, supervision and input from the employees whose workloads we are trying to improve.
This would not replace the need for adequate school funding or staffing. It would be one way to use the resources we do have more effectively while continuing to advocate for the resources the district actually needs.
That said, I also believe our current school board has not been aggressive enough in pursuing Endowment funding, which, frankly, should easily make New Hanover County Schools the most well-funded system in the state. We saw literacy coaches funded via The Endowment; certainly there are other support positions that could be funded this way as well. It requires the political will to make it happen.
Q: Superintendent Chris Barnes has been authorized to put together a 10-year sustainability plan in March, which could highlight where the district can close school facilities and reduce costs associated with its current overhead. Do you support this effort and, if so, how would you like the district to proceed with this study and its implementation?
A: I support taking a long-term look at the district’s facilities, enrollment and operating costs, but I would not want the purpose of that process to be simply identifying buildings to close — particularly not when many classrooms across the county are already overcrowded, and some of our kids are already on long bus rides to and from school. The starting point should be what our students, families and growing community will need over the next decade, and then determining how our facilities can best meet those needs.
Schools are public infrastructure. Just as the county plans ahead for roads, water and sewer, we should be planning ahead for educational capacity rather than waiting until overcrowding, deferred maintenance or population shifts create a crisis.
Any study should also consider more than a building’s immediate operating cost. It should account for school capacity, program needs, transportation, future growth and the history and importance of schools to the communities around them. If the study ultimately recommends consolidation or closure, those decisions should come only after a transparent public process and a clear explanation of how the change would improve educational opportunities for students and families. Cutting costs shouldn’t come at the expense of safe, supported children. Our kids are worth investing in.
Q: The district is also looking to obtain grant funding for a study on how much time students spend with screens in class. Where do you stand on student technology use, particularly screen time and AI in classrooms?
A: I think schools should be much more intentional about when and why students are using screens. For younger students, especially, I would favor minimizing screen time and emphasizing direct instruction, reading, writing, discussion and hands-on learning. At the end of the day, it isn’t a computer that teaches our kids, but smart, qualified educators. We can’t use technology as a Band-Aid for classes that are too large and teachers who are overworked.
As students get older, technology can be a useful tool, but it should serve a clear educational purpose rather than become the default mode of instruction. I also understand that digital resources can sometimes reduce the cost and logistical burden of traditional textbooks, so I would not approach this as an absolute prohibition on technology, but we should also not assume new technology is always a net positive for a classroom. I have heard from some teachers that they are embracing more analog methods of instruction, like writing by hand, to improve student focus and information retention.
I am much more cautious about the use of artificial intelligence in classrooms. I have not yet seen enough evidence that its benefits outweigh the risks, particularly when students are still developing foundational reading, writing and critical-thinking skills. Before the district expands the use of AI, I would want clear evidence that it improves learning outcomes, guarantees of strong safeguards around privacy and academic integrity, and meaningful input from educators about how it affects teaching and learning.
Q: Is there a capital need that you would have liked to see make it onto the school bond? How would you work to fund that project in the future?
A: I sincerely wish that all of the identified renovation needs at New Hanover High School had been included in the bond and facilities for Isaac Bear Early College. Our older schools should not have to wait until maintenance problems become emergencies before we make the investments necessary to provide students and staff with safe, functional learning environments.
Going forward, I would first make sure the remaining work is clearly prioritized in the district’s long-term capital plan, with transparent cost estimates and timelines. I would then work with the county commission and other funding partners to identify the appropriate combination of future capital funding and other available resources.
I also believe the district should examine whether the New Hanover County Endowment can appropriately help support eligible needs. I would not assume that every capital project falls within its authority, but we should understand exactly what The Endowment can fund and pursue those opportunities where they align with the district’s priorities.
Q: The state recently mandated a specific process for handling book challenges. It requires the school board to weigh in on all challenges, supplanting the district's multi-layered challenge and appeal process. However, the state doesn't specify if the board has to remove the book from all schools or grade levels, versus just the school where the book was challenged. Should a parent challenge at one school trigger a district-wide review, or should the concerns stay local? Why?
A: On one hand, I’m personally pretty tired of valuable school board meeting time being consumed by book challenges when we have schools molding and students who struggle with literacy. On the other hand, I appreciate that the state now gives discretion on book challenges to the school board because it makes the stakes of this particular election very clear: We need a school board majority that supports the curricular expertise of teachers and media specialists. Parents should be free to opt their children out of reading material in class or in the library. However, that freedom should start and end with their own child; no other student, class, grade, or school should be affected by one parent’s book challenge. The board’s role should be to ensure that one family’s objection does not automatically determine what is available to every other family.
Q: If you had to redistrict as a board member, how would you go about that process?
A: I would want the process to begin with a clear understanding of the problem we are trying to solve. Are we trying to better integrate our schools? Reduce overcrowding? Make bus routes more efficient? I would want the district to examine whether expanding successful programs or addressing conditions at under-enrolled schools could solve some of the imbalance before relying solely on boundary changes. We should look at enrollment, building capacity, transportation, projected growth, and the programs that may be drawing families toward some schools and away from others.
If redistricting were necessary to address the identified problems, my goal would be to develop boundaries that use our existing capacity more effectively, reduce overcrowding where possible and avoid creating unnecessary disruption. Crucially, a redistricting process should be transparent and shaped by meaningful input from families, educators, and school communities before lines are finalized.
Redistricting will have major effects on students’ routines, transportation and connection to their schools, so those consequences should be part of the analysis rather than treated as an afterthought. In Wilmington, especially, the burden of redistricting has often fallen hardest on children at majority-Black city schools, which should be accounted for in any future redistricting decision.
Q: What do you think The Endowment should fund for schools?
A: New Hanover County has a beautiful opportunity to enhance our schools with The Endowment. We have been able to secure grants that have supported student growth and academic intervention. This year The Endowment has agreed to support our school infrastructure. This infrastructure investment is the largest we have seen in our schools, and the impact will be seen for generations to come. Moving forward, I would like to see The Endowment share more criteria for the projects they are seeking to fund, so that NHCS can be responsive in writing a grant to fulfill that goal. Grants we apply for and receive typically have criteria they are seeking, so when the district writes the grants, it does so to be responsive to the criteria given. Working collaboratively with the endowment will allow students and staff a more enhanced learning experience.
Q: What should be done to improve the district's five low-performing schools? Why does New Hanover County have some of the highest-performing schools in the state—and then some of the lowest-performing ones in North Carolina?
A: All schools submit school-improvement plans on a biannual basis that the Board of Education approves and that are then submitted to the state. Plans for all low-performing schools must be submitted annually. As a board member, I have looked for changes to those plans so that more students can be successful. Board members do not need to rubber-stamp a plan, but rather encourage innovation and change so that more of our students will be successful. As a board member, I continue to support early intervention for students and opportunities for growth in all schools in New Hanover County. We need schools to have high parental involvement and effective teaching practices, and we need to keep high standards as we strive for all schools and students to meet their full potential. Keeping the standards high while supporting students is the goal. NHCS is on the right trend; what we are doing is working well. Thank you to all our staff.