VOORHEESVILLE – says, "The school board is there for the school, and to be a voice for the taxpayer." It is not a conduit for any personal goals, he said, adding that votes and actions should be done impartially for the district.

Jones, 52, works as an associate director for technical services in Information Technology for the State University of New York at Albany. He has been a resident of the district for 18 years.
"I’ve lived here long enough to understand the issues," he said.

Jones has three children – two have graduated from Voorheesville, and one child is still a student in the district.
Jones said that he thought, if he were to do anything more with the school, "I’d better do it while I still have an interest in the school."
Voorheesville is a good school district, Jones said. "It is the jewel of our community and I’d like to keep it that way" with the type of excellence that’s been in it."
He is looking for a "common voice" within the school board, Jones said. "You’re really serving the Voorheesville community, comprised of students, parents, and educators," he said of the board’s function. "If the school board is doing its job right, everybody benefits."

Jones said that he believes that Tech Valley High School is an opportunity for some kids. He said he isn’t sure how economically feasible it is, and there are still a lot of issues that he doesn’t know.
"I’m all in favor of trying out new things, if it does not require a large capital investment," Jones said.
Jones said that he has "no major complaints" about how the district handled the situation with the two former administrators who were accused by the state comptroller of inappropriately paying themselves $216,000. "It’s too bad some of it happened," Jones said. "I’m just willing to put that behind us."
The real problem, he said, was internal controls. "You’ve got to have internal controls, and feel comfortable enforcing them."

He said he doesn’t have a huge problem with how the resignation of Charles Reader was handled.
"We pay people a lot of money to be administrators in that district," Jones said. "I don’t want to second guess every decision they make.
"Sometimes when you look under the covers, it might be too late to put the covers back up," he added.
The school district is a public setting, and, he said, "In general, I prefer the school district to be open. There’s really no reason for most of the stuff to happen behind the scenes."
With regard to the enforcement of policies, Jones said, "I hate to spend a lot of community resources debating that little piece of it."
Allowing district administrators to use their judgement when enforcing policies, "is what we pay them for," Jones said. "That’s what you do – you use your judgement."
Jones said that he doesn’t really know enough about the new social worker post. "You really don’t hear the detail about why this is needed.
"There has to be some reason it came to the forefront" Something happened," he said. The addition of a social worker to the staff "could be the greatest move the school district has made, or, it could not be."
On growing enrollment, Jones said that the school district has a pretty good history of moving teachers to where the student demand is. "They seem to have a good handle on what their capacity is."
Jones said that he agrees with many district residents who feel the taxes are high, but, he said, "They’re not out of line with a lot of Capital District areas."
The best thing the district can do to curb taxes, Jones said, "is to prioritize what we’re spending." The goal is to be able to stand in front of the taxpayer and say, "Your money is being well spent," Jones said.
He admitted that the budget process must be difficult. The district has no control over assessments, and no control over state aid; the only thing that can be controlled is the budget, and it "never seems to go down," Jones said.
Security should be something that is constantly re-evaluated, he said. It’s a good idea to ask, "How would our plan work"" he added.
"I’m thrilled to at least be participating in this process," Jones said. "If it works out, I’m looking forward to spending time on the school board."