I, Jeri “JJ” O’Neal, am seeking re-election to the District 4 School Board position. I served faithfully and conscientiously for the last 8 years after being initially elected in 2014.
I have been married to Lonnie O’Neal for 29 years. He has been with the Webster Parish School system for 27 years and has been a teacher, coach and counselor. He is currently the Assistant Principal for NWJH. We have two (2) daughters, Lindsey and Laney who both graduated from NWHS as honor students.
I have a vested interest in helping making the school system successful for our students and employees. I am passionate that parents, students and teachers must be an integral part of our decision making process.
After graduation from Springhill High School in 1990, I received my associate’s degree in nursing from SAU and later a Bachelor’s degree from Northwestern State University.
For the past 28 years, I have worked as an RN in Webster Parish. From 1994-2003, I worked in many areas at Springhill Medical Center. In 2003, after the birth of our daughter, I felt it was time to give back to the community as they had done for us when our son, Logan was diagnosed with cancer and later was on hospice. I worked as a community health nurse in hospice from 2003-2005 in Minden and then in home health from 2005 to present. During my tenure in home health from 2004-2013, I served in administration as a branch manager, performance improvement coordinator and then as a regional administrator for several home health agencies all over Northwest and Northeast Louisiana. In September 2013, I was offered a position within our company as a clinical Compliance Auditor ensuring that state and federal regulations are followed in all their locations across the country. I am currently the lead investigator when potential violations of regulations are alleged. Having extensive experience in following, implementing and revising policies and procedures and now having worked for the last 5 years interpreting governmental regulations, I believe I will continue to be an asset to the position I am currently in and seeking re-election.
In 2008, I was named “Businesswoman of the Year” for Springhill North Webster Chamber of Commerce and in 2012 out of 500 managers within LHC Group, I was named as a top ten finalist for “Servant Leader of the Year” Award.
During my tenure on the board, we have accomplished a few things worth noting:
- We approved a motion to put a School Resource Office (SRO) in every school with the help of the Sherriff’s Office and the Chiefs of Police in Minden and Springhill.
- We were one of ten districts in Louisiana for % (percentage) of students showing growth by moving to Mastery or above on the Leap 2025.
- We unanimously approved a motion for the unfreezing of the salary schedule in 2017 which has been frozen for some time for all employees.
- Created the Harper Center for Jumpstart opportunities for our students.
I want to remind the voters of District 4 that when I decided to run for the School Board 8 years ago, it was an easy decision to make when I had children in the school system. Although, they have since graduated, I feel I can continue to serve and ensure that the many decisions the school Board make, benefit the students and are fair throughout the entire parish. I want to be your voice and would appreciate your continued support in the upcoming election. The motto in the department in which I work is “It’s all about Integrity’ and I promise to continue to serve with integrity if re-elected.
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