School board candidates meet for forum, March 5 election

As early voting ends on Feb. 27 ahead of the Presidential Preference and County Primary Election on March 5, three Jackson-Madison County school board candidates met for a forum last week.

We The People of West Tennessee, a local conservative Christian group, hosted the discussion at Jackson First Assembly Church.

Glen Gaugh, District 2, Shane Barnes, District 5, Position 1, and Debbie Gaugh, District 3, (incumbent) were the sole candidates in attendance, though all fifteen candidates were invited. Candidate Glen Gaugh is Debbie Gaugh's son.

In a game-show-style fashion and moderated by Pastor Garry Martin, candidates were asked a series of questions to which each would hold up a Yes/No answer. A three-minute allotment to further explain their answers was allowed at the end of each round.

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Meet the candidates

All three Republican candidates responded similarly to most of the questions about pertinent topics in education.

They unanimously agreed that JMCSS school board should not pursue legal action against the Tennessee State Charter Commission for overturning the school board's previous decision to vote down American Classical Academy's charter school application. All are in favor of school choice as it pertains to the potential establishment of a charter school. A branch of the ACA charter school is now planned to open in 2025 in Jackson.

Candidates also concurred across the board that teachers should not be required to use a student's preferred pronouns.

A few key questions asked of the candidates at the forum included the following:

Should any school employee who wants, and is trained accordingly in an established standard, be allowed to be armed or have a gun easily accessible?

Both Gaughs answered yes, while Barnes answered no.

Currently employed at the Madison County Sheriff's Office and with a 30-year career in law enforcement, Barnes says it would only impede law enforcement.

"I think there needs to be a little more accountability before we start letting principals and teachers carry weapons in schools," Barnes said. "Those officers have got to worry about all of them."

Although no laws have been made regarding the action, past discussions have occurred in the Tennessee General Assembly.

Crockett County High School offers a one-semester class on Bible for which there is a waiting list. Would you vote to offer such a class as an elective for Jackson-Madison County high schools?

Glen Gaugh and Barnes answered yes, while District 3 incumbent Debbie Gaugh abstained.

"I would love to have a Bible class, but federal rules say that if we do, we have to give everyone else the opportunity to come into our schools and teach their Bible, and we know some of that is Satanic bibles and witches," Debbie Gaugh said.

"I'm sure we have witches here that they have a bible they want to teach, and it's really sad to say that we can't teach the Holy Bible to our kids for fear of what else we'll have to let in, but right now that's just the truth."

Should teachers be allowed to incorporate character-building skills that promote respect, honesty, responsibility, self-control, and integrity?

"I see character building as separate from the social-emotional learning that's promoted today," Glen said.

"As a counselor, I can tell you that you can't counsel a child out of bad behavior, you can counsel them through their circumstances. We can't just teach to be sensitive to one another, like social-emotional learning, we've got to be taught or teach our children to judge right from wrong and that's what character building comes down to."

Who is on the ballot?

The following candidates are on the Republican ballot for the five school board positions:

• District 2: Glen Gaugh and Melissa Bailey Watson

• District 3: Brian Ford, Debbie Gaugh (incumbent), and Kipp Hornburger

• District 5, Position 1: Shane Barnes and Sherry Franks (incumbent)

• District 5, Position 2: Marcia Moss

• District 6, Position 1: Brandilynn Taylor

The following school board candidates are on the Democratic ballot:

• District 5, Position 2: Dwight Jones

• District 6, Position 1: Andrea Moore-Givens

Independent candidates filled the remaining school board seats.

• District 2: Kenneth Newman (incumbent)

• District 6, Position 1: Winnette Bobo, Rebecca Creasy, and Janice Hampton (incumbent)

About the election

Early voting ends on February 27. Polls will be open 9 a.m to 4 p.m Monday through Friday and 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Saturdays. Information on voter precincts can be found at the Madison County Election Commission.

On Election Day March 5, polls will be open from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m.

This article originally appeared on Jackson Sun: School board candidates talk guns and character-building at forum