← Back to Montgomery County, Tennessee: Election on 2026-08-06
Contest for School Board Member District 5
general - Partisan - School Board Member
About this office
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.
Term length: 4 years.
This role calls for
- Policy judgment for a public school district — setting direction while leaving day-to-day management to the superintendent.
- Budget literacy for operating and capital budgets, in coordination with the county commission (which appropriates) and the state.
- Ability to hire, evaluate, and when necessary replace the superintendent — the board's highest-stakes recurring decision.
- Constituent relations with parents, teachers, principals, and community members.
- Willingness to complete the state-required annual training through the Tennessee School Boards Association.
Derived from the office's statutory duties and operational reality. Candidate summaries below map each candidate's documented experience to these requirements.
Campaigns
Jessica Meyers Shaffer's biography shows military service in avionics and work in banking and corporate finance, which may support budget literacy and policy judgment for a school board. Her background includes volunteering with youth ministries and Operation Stand Down, suggesting constituent relations skills. The biography documents no controversies or disciplinary records. Bio does not indicate experience hiring or evaluating a superintendent or completing state-required annual training through the Tennessee School Boards Association.
Jacqueline Burton's twenty-year career as an educational support professional and service on multiple education association boards demonstrate relevant constituent relations experience and familiarity with district stakeholders. Her biography contains no record of controversy or disciplinary action. Bio does not indicate experience in public budget literacy or the authority to hire and evaluate a school superintendent.
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