JCPS voters face new board structure in Tuesday election
Senate Bill 4 reduced the Jefferson County Public Schools board to five members, resulting in a full slate of new candidates for all seats.
By Naomi Whitaker ·
Five candidates will compete for each of the five seats on the Jefferson County Public Schools board in the Tuesday election. The reorganization stems from Senate Bill 4, a state law that consolidated all board positions into a single election cycle and cut the total number of board members from seven to five.
The legislative change means that only three of the seven current board members are seeking reelection. Those incumbents are Trevin Bass, Gail Logan Strange, and Taylor Everett. The remaining four seats are open, and the field of challengers includes dozens of names that voters may not recognize from previous local politics.
Local news outlets WDRB and WAVE sent eight standardized questions to every registered candidate to assist voters in evaluating their choices. The survey covered student achievement, district spending, transparency, and the candidates' backgrounds in education or business. The media partners published the responses in PDF format for public review.
Five candidates for District One and District Two did not submit answers by the publication date. In District One, Jody Hurt, Gail Logan Strange, and Amina Shale were listed as non-respondents. In District Two, Lillian Brents did not provide answers. Tim Shaughnessy, Alante’J. Gaines, Robert Kahne, and Phil Haming were the other candidates in that district.
District Three featured three candidates: Veda Pendleton, Taylor Everett, and Neil Seftor. All three were listed as having responded to the questionnaire. In District Four, Kimberly Ann Vinegar, Michelle E. Patrick, and Deja B. Jackson submitted answers. Trevin Bass, the incumbent in that district, did not respond to the questions by the deadline.
District Five had the largest number of listed candidates. William E. Snawder, Kyle N. Killebrew, Carrie Donovan, and Bob DeVore provided responses. Troy Gardner did not submit answers by the date of publication. WDRB and WAVE reported that they could not locate contact information for another candidate in that district, TraShaun Spencer.
Source: WDRB
