Former Leon County Schools Superintendent Jackie Pons filed paperwork Wednesday to run for superintendent of Jefferson County Schools.
“I’m excited and I’m just so proud of the work we’ve accomplished over the last three years at the school,” Pons, current principal of the Jefferson County K-12 School, told the Tallahassee Democrat exclusively after filing.
“We received so much community support, and I am very proud of the team we’ve put together, and the reason I’m running is to keep that team together to make sure we improve the school system.”
The longtime educator went to the Jefferson County Supervisor of Elections Office Wednesday to file his paperwork, bringing the number of candidates up to five, including incumbent Superintendent Eydie Tricquet, who is running for re-election.
“I am passionate about educating children and making sure they are learning in school,” Tricquet told the Tallahassee Democrat. A veteran educator, she was first elected to the post in 2020.
“I am not a politician, I don’t care for politics,” she added.
Other candidates in the race include former Jefferson County Superintendent Al Cooksey, Michael Sneed Jr. and LaClarence Mays.
The challenge by Pons comes months after Jefferson County K-12 school scored a C grade from the Florida Department of Education, a marked improvement after decades of Ds and Fs.
Pons was hired as principal at the school in 2022 and is subject to reappointment by Tricquet to determine if he will continue as principal.
More:How Jefferson County schools turned it around, escaped state control
In 2017, the Florida Department of Education took over the school district and contracted it to Somerset Charter Academy Inc. to improve the struggling district’s grades and mismanaged finances. After its five-year contract came to an end, Somerset pulled out and the district was back under local control in 2022, under the condition that the school’s grade rise to a C, which it did with Pons as principal.
Pons said he is prioritizing early learning and the status of the district’s finances in his campaign.
“One of the most important things in fiscal responsibility is to make sure that as superintendent, we’re going to give the school the resources staff need in order to be successful,” Pons said. “I’m also very interested in making sure our students are kindergarten ready, so we are partnering with the Early Learning Coalition and private providers to make sure our kids are getting that early learning in.”
Pons started his career in education in 1986 at Rickards High School where he was a teacher, athletic director and assistant principal. He later became assistant principal at Godby High School and then principal at Deerlake Middle School. He was first elected superintendent in 2006.
His career was upended in 2013 when an anonymous notebook — later revealed to have been authored in part by his then-rival Rocky Hanna, the current superintendent — alleged he was involved in a variety of misdeeds, including favoritism in the awarding of construction contracts. The notebook found its way to the FBI which, along with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, launched an investigation the next year.
In 2018, the FBI cleared Pons and said no charges would be filed. But two years earlier Pons was defeated by Hanna in a blowout election in which the investigation was a forefront issue. Pons went on to work in the private sector and taught at Florida A&M University’s Developmental Research School before being tapped for the post in Jefferson County.
More:Pons’ next move? Speculation of a possible run for superintendent addressed
This is a developing story. Check back for details.
Alaijah Brown covers children & families for the Tallahassee Democrat. She can be reached at ABrown1@gannett.com.
