{"campaigns":[{"candidatename":"Keith Parrish","chatgptsummary":null,"notes":null,"party":"DEM","person":{"biography":"## Current office and 2026 campaign\nKeith Allen Parrish is a Democratic candidate for the Jones County Board of Education in the 2026 general election. His campaign website is parrishforboe.com.\n\nParrish's campaign centers on three priorities: student safety, teacher resources, and staff retention.\n\n## Background and education\nParrish earned a Bachelor of Arts in History and Political Science, cum laude, from Grove City College in Pennsylvania in 1987, and a Master of Arts in History and Museum Studies, with honors, from Duquesne University in Pittsburgh in 1990.\n\n## Career\nAfter completing his graduate degree, Parrish spent approximately ten years as the Director of Education at Eckley Miners' Village, a historic site in Weatherly, Pennsylvania. He then transitioned to classroom teaching in North Carolina, where he taught for approximately twenty-five years. His last four years in the classroom were at Jones Senior High School in Trenton, NC, where he taught history and civics. He retired from teaching in 2025 with 35 years of professional experience in education.\n\n## Family\nParrish lives in Trenton, NC, with his wife, Karen.\n\n## Sources\n- [1] [Meet your Jones County Candidates for the 2026 Election \u2013 WCTI12](https://wcti12.com/news/election/local-election/meet-your-jones-county-candidates-for-the-2026-election)\n- [2] [Keith Parrish for Board of Education \u2013 parrishforboe.com](https://www.parrishforboe.com/)\n","firstname":"Keith","lastname":"Parrish","middlename":"Allen","suffix":null,"token":"aa80d231aa4285eb"},"token":"TF-z0SHbPjfgUhAz"},{"candidatename":"Lisa Byrd","chatgptsummary":null,"notes":null,"party":"REP","person":{"biography":"Lisa Spence\u202fByrd is the Republican candidate for the Jones County Board of Education in the November\u202f3,\u202f2026 election. The board governs the Jones County Public Schools system, setting policy, approving budgets, and overseeing the superintendent to ensure quality education for the county\u2019s students. \n\nByrd was born and raised in Jones County; her family has long been connected to the local schools, and her daughter graduated from Jones County High School in 2021. She and her husband Thomas own and operate Byrd\u2019s Trucking & Towing in Maysville, a small family\u2011run business that has been a fixture in the community for years. In addition to her entrepreneurial work, Byrd serves as treasurer for Maysville Fire & EMS, volunteering her time to support emergency services in the area [10]. \n\nHer public\u2011service career began in 2019 when, as a concerned parent, she started communicating with the Jones County Board of Education to advocate for students and families. She was elected to the board in 2022 and has served as a board member for the past three years, focusing on student safety, academic achievement, fiscal responsibility, and strong leadership. During her tenure the board placed school\u2011resource officers in every school, hired a superintendent noted for decisive leadership, and earned Gold Bell status as a whole board. These actions helped lift the district out of low\u2011performing status for the first time in seven years, saw the Career & Technical Education program rise to #5 statewide, and secured a clean audit\u2014an uncommon accomplishment for public schools [9]. \n\nByrd\u2019s platform emphasizes continued investment in safety measures, expanding career\u2011technical education opportunities, and ensuring transparent, honest governance. She champions the College\u2011to\u2011Career Promise program, which allows every Jones County student to earn a free associate\u2019s degree while in high school, and she pledges to protect and expand such pathways. Her campaign message, described as \u201cThrough a Mother\u2019s Eyes,\u201d stresses fairness and equity for all children, parents, and educators, and she promises to serve with honesty and transparency [10]. \n\nIf elected, Byrd intends to build on the board\u2019s recent successes, maintain the district\u2019s improved academic standing, and continue advocating for programs that give Jones County students the same opportunities as those in larger neighboring districts.\n\n## Sources\n- [9] [Meet your Jones County Candidates for the 2026 Election](https://wcti12.com/news/election/local-election/meet-your-jones-county-candidates-for-the-2026-election)\n- [10] [Lisa Byrd: Candidate for Jones County Board of Education \u2014 Neuse News](https://www.neusenews.com/index/2022/10/25/lisa-byrd-candidate-for-jones-county-board-of-education)","firstname":"Lisa","lastname":"Byrd","middlename":"Spence","suffix":null,"token":"7f62013e4b32135f"},"token":"2QlyymDfw_UcToyx"},{"candidatename":"Debbie Philyaw","chatgptsummary":null,"notes":null,"party":"REP","person":{"biography":"According to the North Carolina voter file, Debra Sue Philyaw is a registered voter in Jones County, North Carolina, registered since 1988 (38 years), with party affiliation listed as Republican [1].\n\nThe voter file shows Debra Sue Philyaw's year of birth as 1955; NC publishes only the year of birth in its bulk voter export, so day and month are not part of the public record [1].\n\nThe voter history file shows 13 elections voted in since 2016, most recently the 2026-03-03 primary election [2].\n\nThis summary draws only from the public North Carolina voter registration and history records. No additional published biographical information was located. Voters with personal knowledge of Debra Sue Philyaw can reach ballotproject.org with corrections or additions.\n\n## Sources\n[1] [North Carolina State Board of Elections \u2014 Voter Search](https://vt.ncsbe.gov/RegLkup/)\n\n[2] North Carolina State Board of Elections voter history file (`ncvhis_Statewide`), published at [dl.ncsbe.gov](https://dl.ncsbe.gov/)","firstname":"Debra","lastname":"Philyaw","middlename":"Sue","suffix":null,"token":"1fa0ffcecb04aa0b"},"token":"e2pFNTPkfAOMskct"},{"candidatename":"Charles (Chance) Gray III","chatgptsummary":null,"notes":null,"party":"REP","person":{"biography":"## Current office and 2026 campaign\nCharles Demont Gray III, known as \"Chance\" Gray, is a Republican candidate for the Jones County Board of Education in the November 3, 2026 general election [1]. He advanced from the March 3, 2026 Republican primary, finishing third among five candidates with 560 votes -- behind Debbie Philyaw (649) and Lisa Byrd (633), and ahead of Jason Barker (367) and Glenda Weston (212) [2].\n\n## Sources\n[1] [Meet your Jones County Candidates for the 2026 Election \u2013 WCTI12](https://wcti12.com/news/election/local-election/meet-your-jones-county-candidates-for-the-2026-election)\n[2] [Primary election results roll in across Eastern North Carolina \u2013 WCTI12](https://wcti12.com/news/local/primary-election-results-roll-in-across-eastern-north-carolina)","firstname":"Charles","lastname":"Gray","middlename":"Demont","suffix":"III","token":"91e72ce098d68613"},"token":"kOd1zTT_wKAcBC1r"}],"choices":null,"description":null,"district":null,"districtgroup":null,"districtgroupname":null,"districtname":null,"job_type":"school_board","o.office":"county_school_board","office":"county_school_board","officedescription":"A school board member serves on the elected body that governs a public school district. The board sets district policy and budget priorities and hires and evaluates the superintendent, while leaving day-to-day management to the administration.","officequalities":"- Policy judgment for a public school district \u2014 setting direction while leaving day-to-day management to the superintendent.\n- Budget literacy for operating and capital budgets, in coordination with the county commission (which appropriates) and the state.\n- Ability to hire, evaluate, and when necessary replace the superintendent \u2014 the board's highest-stakes recurring decision.\n- Constituent relations with parents, teachers, principals, and community members.\n- Willingness to complete the state-required annual training through the Tennessee School Boards Association.","officeterm":4,"officetitle":"County School Board Member","partisan":1,"pgr":"general","quantity":3,"referendum":null,"source":null,"title":"Jones County Board Of Education"}