McClurg seeks to add new perspective to school board

Published 2:00 pm Sunday, January 12, 2020

When the Dalton Board of Education meets for the first time in 2020 today, it’ll have two new members, including Jody McClurg, who won her seat in November without opposition and brings her experience as a mother of children in the school system and as a member of the Dalton Education Foundation’s board of trustees.

Dalton Education Foundation trustees are limited to two terms of three years each, and McClurg served the maximum amount through July of 2019, but “I knew I’d miss the opportunity to be involved in the schools” when her tenure expired, so school board seemed an alluring next step, she said. McClurg also had been told by others she’d excel on the school board, but she still hesitated to declare her candidacy due to the public nature of the job.

“I’m definitely more of a worker in the back, not someone who likes to be out in front,” she said. Still, “I hope I can add something positive.”

McClurg has already reached out to current and erstwhile school board members for advice, and she toured Dalton’s schools last month. Additionally, she attended a conference for new Georgia school board members in Rome in November and a Georgia School Board Association conference in Atlanta last month.

The best tip she’s received so far is to focus more on listening and learning early in her tenure, she said. “I know I have a lot to learn, but once you get your feet wet, it makes it easier.”

McClurg takes over a seat on the board from Rick Fromm, who chose not to seek another term, and “I’ll have him on speed dial to use as a reference,” she said. “I think this will be a really good board to work with,” as Tulley Johnson’s two decades on the board provide him a wealth of “experience,” Chairman Matt Evans “is a great leader,” Palmer Griffin is an expert on the facilities front and attorney Sam Sanders — like McClurg, a new board member — is a legal and financial authority.

McClurg can offer input as a female and a mother, she said. In Atlanta, she noticed an even split between males and females among school board members, and “I was pleased to see that, because females can bring a different perspective — good, bad or indifferent.”

Sanders got to know McClurg through the education foundation, an organization which he currently serves as president, and he believes she’ll be a superb addition to the school board.

“She’s very smart, and she really cares, not only about her kids, but all kids,” Sanders said. “If she wasn’t on the board, she’d be serving the schools in some other way, and that’s the type of person you want on the board.”

The public is invited to a reception for McClurg and Sanders at 6 p.m. Monday in City Hall.

During her six years with the education foundation, McClurg was impressed by the level of “innovation” she saw from teachers and staff members as they applied for grants from the foundation, she said. “I loved the fact that we could support ideas” like the greenhouse at Brookwood School, a sensory room at Park Creek School and Esports at Dalton High School.

The CatastrophicGamers, a play on the high school’s nickname of Catamounts, received the “amazing amount” of $5,000 from a Dalton Education Foundation grant to upgrade equipment before its inaugural season as a Georgia High School Association-sanctioned sport, and Esports are another offering to involve and engage students, Jesús Jacobo Martínez, the high school’s Esports coach, explained in the fall of 2019. Players on the team — which qualified for the playoffs this season — “are being celebrated for what they’re good at, and that makes me happy.”

Reid Rehberg, a sophomore member of the squad, was pleasantly surprised by the shape of the technology for the team, he said this past fall. “The PCs are really nice.”

McClurg is involved with several community organizations, including the Whitfield Healthcare Foundation and United Way, according to Dalton Public Schools. In addition, she serves on the Dalton-Whitfield Planning Commission and is an active member of Dalton First United Methodist Church.

A stay-at-home mom, McClurg has the time and schedule flexibility to be a board presence inside Dalton’s schools, and “I love getting that insight,” she said. “There are so many incredible things going on in our schools.”

A native of Florence, Alabama, and an Auburn University alumna with a degree in human resource management, McClurg was hired out of college by Shaw Industries in 1995 and moved to Dalton, where’s she’s resided for the last quarter-century, she said. McClurg and her husband of 21 years, Chuck, an employee of Shaw and Dalton High School alumnus, have two sons at Dalton High School: Charlie, a senior, and Parker, a freshman.

Watching her sons grow up in this school system has provided McClurg valuable perspective.

“My perceptions have changed as they’ve grown older,” she said. “You learn why things are done in a certain way, and I understand better why things happen the way they do.”

She’s also thankful for the education her children have received.

“They’ve had amazing teachers who made me feel like my kid is their only student,” she said. “Communication has been great.”

Now, McClurg can be a messenger between the school system and parents, especially regarding the significant change 18 months away, which has been the main topic local families have inquired about when they see her at events, she said. “People want to know about programming and who is going to be where, but most of that is still to be determined.”

In the fall of 2021, the current Dalton Middle School campus will become a junior high for grades eight and nine as well as a magnet high school for grades 10-12. Furthermore, Hammond Creek Middle School will open for grades six and seven, and DHS will be a 10-12 school.

As the school system prepares to reconfigure grades in the fall of 2021, teachers will be asked to fill out their building preferences based on certifications in September of 2020, and staffing decisions will be made and announced in January-February of 2021, according to Tim Scott, superintendent of Dalton Public Schools. Teachers will be notified of new assignments prior to signing new contracts.

In March of 2021, all students in grades eight and up will be asked to select their 10-12 grade school, Scott said. Prior to that, there will be numerous informational meetings for students and families, as well as various social media postings.

“The renderings look fabulous, and it’ll be neat to see how the new schools play out,” McClurg said. “Kids transition better than parents do.”

Most of all, McClurg wants the public to know she’s “approachable with any questions or issues,” and she keeps a running list of inquiries and comments from individuals in her phone so she won’t forget them, she said. “I am fully invested.”