Matt Jones, standing in front of
Liverpool High School: “If you go around and talk to people and you
feel the need for change in the district, you’ll know what I’m saying.”
Jones may soon become the youngest
member of the Liverpool School Board, if all goes according to his
plans. Now a 19-year-old student at Onondaga Community College, the
energetic Jones is running for one of three positions in play on the
May 20 ballot. He faces two incumbents who have served since 2002—board
president Mark Lawson and retired teacher Pat Mouton—and a third,
Phoenix science teacher Rick Pento, who became a member last year.
Other challengers may emerge before the April 21 deadline.
Jones, who graduated from Liverpool High
School in June 2007, was the student body president in his senior year.
When he graduated, said Jones, “I just didn’t want to stop serving,”
adding that he is “excited, well-funded and well-organized.” His
funding has come from friends and family, and he anticipates that most
of the money will be spent on lawn signs, flyers and newspaper ads.
“I’ve been getting a lot of help with printing things. I have some
friends who are lawyers and they let me use their copiers.”
If he wins, he won’t be the first
teenager on a Central New York school board. Jeffrey Fusco was elected
to the West Genesee School Board in 2006, while still a high school
senior. He remains on the board.
Jones said the campaign has been more
expensive than he expected. He has spent about $400 for signs, which he
claims is not as much as some other candidates. “I have invested maybe
a hundred dollars of my own money. We had a fund-raiser at Lou Lou’s
Restaurant, and lots of people came out.”
Lou Lou’s, 8201 Route 57, Liverpool, is
run by his friend Mindy Wessinger, and is also the place where he
works. “I pick up the dead weight there. I prepare food, wait on
tables, whatever she needs.” When not working, studying or campaigning,
which isn’t often, Jones likes to take in an occasional movie (The Bucket List is his most recent favorite) or listen to music, which could mean anything from Black Sabbath to Toby Keith.
Who among the other candidates does he
think most vulnerable? “I’ve never really thought about who I could
pick off,” answered Jones. “I’m more interested in getting out my
message. To be honest, though, I think I won’t have any problem in
beating any of them. If you go around and talk to people and you feel
the need for change in the district, you’ll know what I’m saying.”
Jones was born with attention deficit
disorder, and credits his schoolteachers with making a difference in
his life. “Elementary and middle school were tough for me. I had some
phenomenal teachers in high school. They prepared me for life. They
said, ‘We’re here to support you, but this is your life, so grab it by
the horns.’ I was never someone who was constantly on the honor roll,
but with some pride in myself, I did pretty well.”
After he finishes his studies at OCC,
Jones would like to transfer to SUNY Oswego and eventually get
certified as a teacher. “Teachers are amazing,” he said. “They can
switch a kid right around and make them successful. To go to bed every
night knowing you might have done something to make someone’s life
better—that’s what I want to do.”
Attorney David Savlov, school board vice
president, is less than thrilled at the prospect of having a recent
graduate join him on the board. Reached by phone at his Liverpool home,
he did not express a direct preference, but he did indicate that the
school board could use someone who has “real life experience.”
“What we need,” said Savlov, who has
served on the board since 2002, “is knowledgeable people with life
experience, who know something about public financing of schools.”
Regarding Jones, Savlov said, “He fancies himself as someone who wants
to get involved in politics. At one board meeting he indicated that
this is a stepping stone to moving on to Washington or Albany.”
Jones and Savlov agree that the biggest
challenge is to provide a quality education without overburdening the
taxpayers. “It’s a struggle between providing a sound education for our
children, but also recognizing that someone has to pay for it,” noted
Savlov. “We are a little bit conservative here in Liverpool, we try to
keep any tax increases consistent year to year. The costs keep going
up. We {the volunteer members of the school board} are all taxpayers,
too. That’s not something Matt Jones has ever had to deal with.”
Lawson remembers Jones from when he
spoke at graduation last year. “I don’t have a feeling one way or
another,” he said, when asked about Jones’ campaign. He is most
concerned about an upcoming referendum on repairing the district’s
athletic stadium and renovating a pair of schools. Lawson is among the
incumbents running, but he doesn’t have plans to campaign much. “I’ve
got signs from the first time I ran, and I will at some point evaluate
whether I should maybe put some of those out. I’m not planning to make
a huge push. I write a monthly column in the district newsletter, and I
think people who care enough to vote in the election know me pretty
well.”
Jones’ parents are Michael and Kathleen
Jones of Liverpool who, according to Matt are “thrilled” that he is
running for office. “I put them through a lot.” Speaking in the third
person the way some veteran politicians like to do, he added, “They
realize that Matt is grown. They know what their son is capable of, and
what he wants to do with his life.”
Jones takes pride in the fact that his
family has gotten more involved in politics since he began his
campaign. “I’m the first person in my entire family to go to college.
My parents have always worked really hard, living paycheck to paycheck.
I can’t wait until I am in a position to be able to support them.”
What about the notion that he might be
lacking the experience to serve on the school board? “I would argue
that I am more experienced than others,” said Jones. “It’s a different
sort of experience. I sat in a classroom for 13 years, in the front
row. I understand the kind of pressure we students go through. I
understand that we are not just there to learn so we can take a test,
but to learn to live in the world.”
—Ed Griffin-Nolan
