‘Victory is sweet.’ Houston County school board winner overcomes election controversy

Clyde Jackson overcame a controversial 11th-hour challenge to his candidacy to win the District 7 school board seat in Houston County in the recent runoff election.

The retired teacher and coach talked with The Telegraph about the runoff election and shared a few goals he’d like to see realized during his upcoming four-year term on the board.

“Pretty much we just thank God for the blessings, thank the community that had trust in me to go back out and vote for me, and of course, victory is sweet,” Jackson said.

In the close runoff June 18, Jackson captured 3,423 votes, or 51.76% of the vote. His opponent, Angel Bowen Brown, received 3,190 votes, or 48.24% of the vote.

Brown was the top vote-getter in the May election among a field of six candidates but did not earn more than 50% of the vote required by Georgia law to win the election

“I just want to tell my opponent congratulations and I wish him well in his endeavors with the Houston County school board,” Brown said.

Jackson expects to be sworn into office sometime in early January.

Here are three initiatives Jackson said he would like to achieve in cooperation with fellow school board members:

New running tracks

He wants to replace all asphalt running tracks at Houston County middle and high schools with synthetic running tracks, like what Perry High School now has and what is being installed at McConnell-Talbert Stadium in Warner Robins.

The new track being installed at McConnell-Talbert is a two-component U.V. stabilized elastomeric polyurethane synthetic track surface, the same as at Perry High School, according to the school system.

“These kids need to practice where they compete against other schools on the track that they run against them,” Jackson said. “But you can’t compete and have the feel of running on asphalt as compared to running on (a synthetic track). ... They’re two different surfaces.”

Town hall meetings

Jackson wants to host town hall meetings so people can get to know school board members and raise any concerns they may have, Jackson said.

“We just want to make sure that people have a voice,” he said. “People just want to be heard.”

‘Visible in schools’

Jackson also wants to have more direct contact between board members and teachers and coaches.

“I’d like to have more of the board members being visible in schools, going around talking to teachers and listening to what they actually have to say because most teachers are kind of nervous and scared and intimidated,” Jackson said. “If they talk to the board members, they’re afraid … (that) they might lose their jobs or whatever.

“So we’ve got to make them feel more comfortable talking to us and voicing their concerns to the board,” he said.

Jackson noted that his goals cannot be achieved without fellow board members.

“I can’t do it by myself and I’m not going to try to do it by myself,” Jackson said. “I don’t want to go in there trying to be the new kid on the block trying to change everything.

“You’ve got to have people that want to rally around you and support you and do what’s right.”

Election controversy

Just two weeks before the June 18 runoff, the county board of elections disqualified Jackson as a candidate. They reversed that action two days later.

The controversy was over a state law that does not permit a family member of a school system administrator to serve on the same system’s school board.

Jackson’s wife, Traci, who retired from the Houston County school system, currently serves in a part-time position as a coordinator for district and school effectiveness.

A former principal and educator, she maintained that the post is not administrative. The school system disagreed.

Other factors in the reversal dealt with how the matter was handled, including the lateness of the challenge by former candidate Caly Hess, according to Mike Hall, the county attorney. Hess received the least number of votes in the May election.

Additionally, it appeared open to interpretation on whether the law requires a school administrator to resign their post without knowing the outcome of the school board race, or resign only if their family member is elected to the school board. Also questioned was whether the issue was a matter for the school board — and not the elections board, according to Hall.

Hall said there was no case law on the issue.

Pending resignation

While Traci and Clyde Jackson still maintain her job is not administrative, she said before the runoff that she planned to resign if he was elected to avoid him having to recuse himself from any votes potentially related to her position.

Clyde Jackson noted that his wife will resign before he takes office to avoid any confusion and a potential replay of what they just went through. He said they want to move away from anything negative and focus on the positive.

“We, as a family, we talked about it and prayed about it, and of course, that’s the best decision for us, and probably the best decision for everybody that’s involved,” Jackson said.

Jackson added, “I just look forward to working with the board members, getting to know them and ready to get to work.”