WARNER ROBINS, Ga. — Just days after disqualifying a candidate running for the board of education, the Houston County Board of Elections reversed course on Wednesday.
In a 3-1 vote, the board of elections agreed to reinstate Clyde Jackson in the run-off for Houston County Board of Education Post 7. That means Jackson will take on Angel Brown in the June 18 run-off.
Jackson, a long-time principal and coach who has since retired, was removed from the ballot on Tuesday because Georgia law does not allow a board of education member to have an "immediate family member" who is a school administrator or administrative staff.
Jackson's wife, Traci Jackson, is a retired principal but still works for the district as a part-time coordinator for district and school effectiveness. According to a spokesperson for the district, she makes $68,208 in that role.
She describes that position as helping teachers reach their full potential.
But in a brief emergency meeting on Wednesday, the attorney for Houston County, Tom Hall, said there were issues with how the board of elections handled the disqualification vote.
For starters, Hall said that the challenge was not timely submitted and these issues had been raised when qualifying happened, but the board didn't put it in writing. Instead, the issues came up after Houston County voters had already sent Jackson to the run-off election.
"If the Board felt strongly enough about it, they should have done something — and they did not," Hall said.
Jackson and his family looked relieved after the vote came out in their favor, hugging supporters who showed up to the meeting to show their support.
The Georgia statute that the board originally disqualified Jackson prohibits a board of education member from having an immediate family member serving "as the local school superintendent or as a principal, assistant principal, or system administrative staff in the local school system," the statute reads.
But Jackson told 13WMAZ on Wednesday that it didn't make sense to her since she chose to leave administration.
"That was the first thing I said, is that, 'When I come out of administration, I don't want to do anything administratively," she said.
Her position with the school district is a 49% role. Because she is a retired educator, there are limitations about how much work she can do in her retirement. However, if she were full-time, her position would carry a $142,000 salary, according to the district.
13WMAZ's Anthony Montalto was at the Board of Election's reversal, and why the board reversed course. Catch that story on WMAZ News at 11 p.m.