Since he reads a minimum of four newspapers every morning, new Ector County ISD Board of Trustees member Dennis Jones isn’t worried about the amount of homework he’ll be doing as part of the panel.
Jones, who also is an attorney and former judge, was appointed to the board during their June 21 meeting.
Having grown up in Lufkin, Jones has been in Odessa for 17 years. When he was born, his parents lived in Monahans. His father was in the Air Force stationed at Pyote.
Jones and his wife, Sherry, live in Odessa and he has two children by his first wife, who is deceased, and two grandchildren. His wife’s daughter is expecting.
Jones started college at Sam Houston State University in Huntsville and graduated from Stephen F. Austin University in Nacogdoches with a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice.
He went to law school at South Texas College of Law in downtown Houston. He started off as a business management major, but later changed to pursuing law.
“It’s something my father always wanted me to do. He didn’t have the opportunities that people have now to go to college. I was the first one in my family to be fortunate enough to attend and graduate college and it’s always something he had a dream for me and I just kind of said, OK,” Jones said.
Although his father was not a college graduate, he was elected county judge in Angelina County, so Jones grew up around the courthouse.
“My very best friend in junior high and high school, his dad was the district judge. So he and I would leave school and go to the courthouse and watch when murder trials and things were going on and (it) just kind of started that ball rolling in my mind,” Jones recalled.
Right out of law school, he worked for the Child Support Division of the Attorney General’s Office for 18 months. He was then hired as a prosecutor in Angelina County, staying there a little more than 10 years. “Then I went to Angelina College in Lufkin, which is much like Odessa College here and I was the director of the criminal justice and paralegal degree programs,” Jones said.
“Once I tired of that, I started applying around the state for other prosecutor jobs and I got hired here in Ector County by Cathy Lynch, who was the county attorney in 2005. That’s what brought me here to Odessa and I’ve been here since,” Jones said.
When he received the mailer from ECISD about the board opening, he realized he was in District 7.
“It was something my wife and I talked about. I ran for District Judge earlier in the year and didn’t win that race. It’s kind of ironic timing for this, but it’s just something that I felt I needed to give back to the community. Odessa has been very good to me since I’ve been here and I’m just attempting to give a small measure back by trying to serve in some capacity. I think that our current board has been very good, very drama free and I want to continue that,” Jones said.
Each of the eight candidates for the trustee spot underwent an interview with the board.
“It could be intimidating to some. It was not to me. It was not my first time to be interviewed by a group of people. But I just was very honest and open to them, that I had no agenda coming in, that I wanted to work with them if selected. And I wanted to make sure that we, as a district, kept moving forward and attempt to do our very best in educating the children,” Jones said.
“I explained to them that I could envision a time here. I don’t know when it will happen, but it may be 50 or more years there may be a time here where there is no oil, and we need to be planning for that now. In regards to how we educate our children. I don’t know if that will happen, but I could envision with the advent of the electric cars that are being pushed now and a lot of automakers are saying they’re, you know going to be completely electric within the next 20 or 30 years. I can envision a time where we may not be as important and we need to plan on that,” Jones added.
He said he doesn’t know if they can affect the local economy in that regard, but he would want to hope that students can be shown that there are other opportunities out there, other than oil and gas.
Hope that we can show our students that there’s other opportunities out there other than the oilfield.
“Don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing wrong with the oilfield. It’s fed hundreds of thousands of families over the years and it is a hard, hard job that those people have. But I can envision a time where it won’t be as important as it is right now,” Jones added.
He knows board members Tammy Hawkins and Carol Gregg from being a municipal court judge. Gregg also was a municipal court judge and Hawkins was director of the Teen Court program.
Jones said he knows Steve Brown from when he worked for the district before he retired.
“For those 13 years I was at Municipal Court I did the truancy program all of those times so I got familiar with a few of the employees and staff of the district … That’s how I knew him,” Jones said.
Hawkins said she was fortunate to know Jones when he was a judge and she was at Odessa Teen Court.
“… He’s excellent. I really, really do like him, plus he actually swore me in when I became a school board member, so that’s kind of neat too. … It’s kind of like we’ve come full circle,” Hawkins said.
“I really like him. I think he’ll be a real asset to our school board,” she added.
Brown said the board interviewed eight candidates for the position.
“And they were all unbelievably qualified. Dennis, I think, will bring to the table his expertise in working with children through the Municipal Court system. I know he was a very big advocate of students being in class, doing what they’re supposed to be doing. He’s pretty well rounded and is an advocate for public education,” Brown said.
“I think he’ll do a good job. As I said, they were all excellent candidates. It was probably one of the more difficult decisions we’ve made because they were all good and all bought different qualities and very positive traits to the table,” he added.
Earlier on June 27, Jones said he met with ECISD Superintendent Scott Muri for the first time to talk about some of the things the district hopes to accomplish. Jones said Muri gave him some material to read so he can get up to speed.
“I look forward to reading that as soon as I can,” Jones said.
He added that he had an inkling of what he was getting himself into, but he may have underestimated it.
“But I’m a voracious reader. Every day before I come to work, I read most of the newspapers in Texas. I have online subscriptions to the Houston Chronicle, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, the Austin American-Statesman. So those are the minimum three. … I read a minimum of four newspapers every morning while drinking coffee. Because in my job, there are sometimes things that are reported that are happening in the court system and other parts of the state that can impact what I do here. Other times it’s just simply news that as an informed person, I like to know,” Jones said.
Since he has retired from the government, he practices criminal defense and family law.
Jones said he hopes his legal background will help him as a board member.
“One of the biggest areas that some people can find intimidating is the Open Meetings Act and I intend to fully comply with that. I think it’s an important piece of legislation that was done many years ago. I don’t think it needs to be weakened or changed. I’m all for that because the public, we’re spending their tax dollars, the public has a right to know how their dollars are being spent. I’m a big proponent of that. But I hope that I can bring a different perspective than maybe someone else with my background and my experience …,” Jones said.
He added that he’s looking forward to working with the other school board members, superintendent and staff.
“I want to be a positive influence for everyone with the district and let’s all work together to move the district forward,” Jones said.
During his interview for trustee, Jones said he suspected that COVID had basically changed parts of the strategic plan that ECISD had done in 2019.
“And then this last meeting when I was appointed, and I was watching some of the slides that Dr. Muri was presenting it shows that the numbers were down during the time when there was no in-person instruction because of the pandemic and how they have come up for the last school year. That’s very encouraging to me and I hope that trend continues,” Jones said.
