Four-term Sullivan County School Board member facing challenger

BLOUNTVILLE, Tenn. (WJHL) — Three-term Sullivan County School Board Member Randall Jones is facing a challenge from newcomer Todd McKinley in his bid for a fourth term on the board.

McKinley won a three-way race in the Republican primary to appear on the ballot for the District 5 seat. Jones opted to run with no party affiliation and did not compete in a primary.

Ahead of the Aug. 1 election, News Channel 11 spoke with both candidates about their qualifications, priorities and their stances on top issues in the race.

Randall Jones

Randall Jones has served on the Sullivan County School Board for 12 years. Before that, he held teaching and administrative positions in Kingsport and Bristol, Tennessee City Schools.

Jones told News Channel 11 that he opted to run without party affiliation despite his status as a lifelong Republican because schools should remain separate from partisan politics.

“When this law was passed in 2021, I stated at that time, if I ever ran again, I would run as an independent,” Jones said. “I stuck to my word on that because I firmly believe that I should represent all the people of Sullivan County, not just those of one particular party.”

Jones said he’s seeking another term to continue serving the community.

“Because of my 38 years experience in education, I answered that call and was lucky enough to be elected,” Jones said, saying he felt God called him to run for school board 12 years ago. “I still feel that he’s leading me to serve for another term.”

If elected for another four-year term, Jones said he’d like to focus on executing a 2015 master facilities plan to update aging school buildings and to build a new school in the eastern part of the district.

Jones counts the construction of Sullivan East Middle and West Ridge High schools as well as passing pay raises for teachers among his successes as a board member.

“I never like to use fund balance for recurrent expenses, but we have a healthy fund balance at this time,” Jones said, speaking about the decision to use the system’s fund balance to cover 15% raises for the 2024-25 fiscal year. “I do support the use of on balance currently that we need to so that we can develop a permanent a permanent funding formula in the near future.”

Jones identified financial management and the threat of a school voucher program as the two top issues facing the district.

Todd Mckinley

Todd McKinley is a Kingsport native and Army veteran who earned the chance to compete against Jones in a three-way primary race in March.

McKinley told News Channel 11 he’s opted to run with a party affiliation to give voters a clearer sense of his political positions.

“It gives those people who pay attention maybe to national elections, to the presidential election, an idea of what you stand for,” McKinley said.

Mckinley said he is running to keep federal influence, which he described as “far left” from, out of local schools.

“To be a bulwark against bad ideas that come from Washington, D.C.,” McKinley said. “I think we should get rid of the federal Department of Education outright, send the education policies back down to the state and local level, so to be a bulwark against bad ideas and at the same time stand up for what’s right.”

When asked about the biggest issues facing Sullivan County Schools, McKinley said he’d prioritize improving the district’s relationship with the county commission and transparency.

“We need to have transparency, openness and of course actually dialog with the teachers and students and at the same time with the parents and the voters of our districts in our county,” McKinley said. “I think that’s lacking in a large lot of ways.”

McKinley highlighted the relationship between the school board and its funding body, the county commission, in discussing teacher raises.

The commission’s budget committee first declined the board’s request for additional funding to cover 15% across-the-board raises before approving a plan for the system to pay for the raises through its fund balance.

Though he supports the raises, McKinley said he disagreed with the school board’s tactics.

“I think what needs to happen is the board members need to be sit down with the county commission in good faith instead of waiting for the last minute,” McKinley said.

McKinley did not object to the idea of a voucher program in principle; however, he said Gov. Bill Lee’s recent proposal would not do enough to ensure all students could afford private school.

“If everybody can’t partake in something evenly across the board, I can’t be for something like that,” McKinley said.

Early voting is currently underway and runs through July 27 . According to the County Election Adminstrator Jason Booher, about 1,300 county residents voted between the first two days of early voting.

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