Jones glad to take on Bentonville superintendent role

BENTONVILLE -- One thing that's stood out to Debbie Jones since she arrived in Bentonville early this year is the work ethic of the School District's employees.

"The strongest impression that I've taken away -- and I'm not just saying this, it has left an impression on me -- is how hard everyone works," Jones said. "And I mean from teachers to administrators, they put in long hours, and they really want to be the best at what they do. I have not seen a teacher that's not 100 percent in."

Jones, the district's new superintendent, knows the job will demand she work as much as anyone.

Jones was hired into the district as deputy superintendent in January. When Superintendent Michael Poore left for the same job in Little Rock this summer, Jones was appointed interim superintendent. She did not apply to keep the job permanently.

Board members met July 11 to review the top nine candidates for superintendent. They came from Tennessee, Colorado, Illinois, Texas, Minnesota, Florida, Oklahoma and Massachusetts.

Board members decided no candidate was more qualified than Jones. They offered her the job that night.

"I didn't feel like any of the resumes were as impressive as Debbie's," said Rebecca Powers, a board member.

The board's decision surprised Jones as much as anyone. Earlier that day, she had been arranging appointments with local business and community leaders to meet whomever the board chose as finalists for the job.

"So many people have told me they're really happy the board went with someone who is familiar with Bentonville. And I think that's because people want to be understood. They want you to know that Bentonville is a different place, as all communities are, but you have to love the community," Jones said.

Powers has been impressed by Jones' temperament and knowledge.

"The times I've talked to her, she shows a calm demeanor that has such wisdom in it," Powers said. "I've seen the community embrace her. She's sociable. She knows figures and data off the top of her head. Things I didn't think she'd know yet about Bentonville, she knows."

Native Arkansan

Jones is the first woman to serve as Bentonville's superintendent in more than 60 years. The last female superintendent was Mrs. G.C. Tinnin, who served from 1943 to 1953, according to a history of the district written by Ruth Barker.

Jones grew up in Charleston, a small town just east of Fort Smith. She graduated from Charleston High School in 1984 and earned her bachelor's degree in education from the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville in December 1987.

She started her career as a high school English teacher. She was a middle school principal and later secondary education director for the Pulaski County Special School District. She was principal at Bryant High School for a year before being promoted to assistant superintendent in Bryant, a job she had for seven years.

"We were very small in administration at the top, and so that really gave me good experience to manage many different areas," she said.

She went to work in 2014 as assistant commissioner for learning services at the Arkansas Department of Education, the department's biggest division. That job gave her experience working closely with legislators, something she believes is valuable to her now.

"Superintendents have to have relationships with their legislators, and they have to tell them what's good and what's not good for schools," Jones said. "I think they really are trying to do good, but there are many implications to laws that are created, and so we have to be very vocal with our legislators about what schools need and what they don't need. And many times more legislation is what schools do not need."

Jones and her husband, D.J. Jones, had been planning to relocate from Little Rock to Northwest Arkansas before the deputy superintendent's job opened up in Bentonville. They're now closer to her parents in Charleston and one of their children at the University of Arkansas.

"My kids told me early on, we may leave this state to work, but when we come back to Arkansas, we're staying in Fayetteville or Northwest Arkansas. And I thought well, if I want to be around grandkids, I might as well move north," she said.

D.J. Jones is a dean and assistant football coach at the district's new West High School. Debbie Jones said she doesn't see any concern about a potential conflict of interest.

"He falls beneath his head coach, then falls beneath his principal, and falls beneath (athletic director) Scott Passmore," she said.

The couple also worked together in the Bryant School District when she was assistant superintendent and he was a coach there, she said.

"I think I do a really good job of keeping work and home life separate," she said.

Career-oriented

Jones is not the only educator in her family. Her father was a marketing teacher and coach at Fort Smith's Northside High School. One of her two sisters is an assistant principal at Fort Smith's Ramsey Junior High School.

There was a time when career programs, such as the one her father taught, were more respected. Then came a movement emphasizing college as the best path for all students after high school, she said.

Though more people went to college, many never graduated. District officials are paying more attention to ways they can prepare students for good jobs straight out of high school, she said.

That's why she supports Bentonville's Ignite program, which immerses students in real experiences in a professional environment with support from a facilitating teacher and professional mentors. The district launched Ignite last year and is expanding the program this year.

High school students need every opportunity to identify a career that appeals to them before they graduate, Jones said.

"That's what high school should be about. It should be about exploring different careers, getting some hands-on experience in those different careers," she said.

She envisions all of the district's career and technical programs moving toward the kind of model Ignite has established. The district needs to take a hard look at what careers offer the most promise for graduates and realign its course offerings accordingly, Jones said.

She's also fully supportive of the Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate programs, the top academic programs for those students interested in attending selective colleges and universities.

Meanwhile, she wants the district to develop online learning opportunities for students.

"I don't want to take away from the face-to-face interaction we have with teachers at all," she said. "But I think there are many students who don't come to school on a regular basis, and for those kids, this is one thing I think could serve them if created well."

Bentonville is the fourth-largest district by enrollment in Arkansas. The district began last fall with about 16,000 students. At least 500 more are expected this fall.

Jones is earning $209,500 as superintendent, the same Poore was making when he left.

Poore said he admired the work Jones had done at the Department of Education. The first time he met Jones, she requested to come up to Bentonville to look at what the district was doing, he said.

"She had looked into our data and said there are things going on here that are just different from any place else," Poore said. "So I admired the fact she was willing to come up here. When I got to talk to her at that time, I could tell she was a really strong educator."

When the district decided late last year to move forward with creating a deputy superintendent position, "It made sense to try to hire the best, and in my mind we weren't going to get any better than (Jones)," Poore said.

NW News on 07/31/2016