Jonathan Martin is running for the Blackberry District seat on the Henry County School Board, motivated in part by bullying his daughter experienced last year.
Jonathan Martin is running for the Blackberry District seat on the Henry County School Board. (Contributed)
He will face Sherry Vestal in the November election. Incumbent Thomas Auker is not seeking re-election.
Martin, 36, said his daughter was bullied at school around the same time as a case in Roanoke, where a young girl died by suicide following similar mistreatment.
“Right around then, something just spoke to me and was like, ‘You know, maybe this is an opportunity for you to get in there and see what you can do,’” he said. “Just having a daughter in the school system, having nephews in the school system, and just wanting to see if there’s something we can do to make it—obviously you can’t eliminate bullying altogether—but to try to make it a safe, fun environment for them to learn in.”
Martin said he still has a lot of campaigning to do and plans to connect with local residents about their concerns.
“I don’t want to make any promises because I don’t know what’s in my power yet,” he said. “This, of course, would be my first elected position, so I don’t know limitations or what that looks like.”
Martin noted some of his goals include being an advocate for students’ success to ensure they can get the best education possible, being the support that teachers, administrators, and support staff need, and working to keep the schools safe.
Martin said bullying often contributes to rising mental health challenges among students, and he wants to ensure they have access to counseling and support.
“It seems like some of those issues are on the rise these days with the bullying and some of the depression and anxiety that comes from that,” he said. “Some of these children come from homes where they don’t necessarily feel supported, and then they come to school and get picked on. I would like to see some type of help for those students.”
Martin also said he would work to keep good teachers and support efforts to reduce class sizes.
“The pay is good for this area, but it can always increase,” he said. “So, I’d like to work on teacher retention and recruiting good teachers to the area.”
While teachers in Henry County are relatively well paid compared to some other localities, other staff positions could benefit from salary reviews. “There’s some other areas as far as salaries I think we could do a little bit better,” he said.
As a member of the Martinsville-Henry County Social Services Community Policy Management Team, Martin said he regularly sees truancy cases and wants to improve the connection between parents and schools.
“I feel like it really needs to be encouraged at home,” he said. “I don’t know if there needs to be an education piece where the parents are involved, but there needs to be that connection between the parents, the community, and actually seeing the value of a good, quality education for the kids.”
He also said schools need more parental engagement overall, as education must be reinforced both in and out of the classroom.
Martin said he’s not anticipating major conflict if elected but is prepared to work through challenges if they arise.
“I feel like the people who are on the board are good folks,” he said. “Just being effective in communicating with them, talking things out—sometimes you can help others understand things from a different viewpoint.”
A Henry County native, Martin attended Patrick & Henry Community College. He currently works as a manager for ValleyStar Credit Union.
