Jamie McGonnigal
Running for school board in Prince George's County District 3
Email: jamie@mcgfordistrict3.com
Website: mcgfordistrict3.com
How old will you be on Election Day (Nov. 3)?
51
Are you currently employed? If so, where, and what is your job title?
Yes, I'm the director of growth for Mobile Commons
What is the highest level of education that you completed, and where did you get that degree?
Bachelor's degree in communications from Bridgewater State University
Why are you running for the school board?
I am running because I am the parent of a current Prince George's County Public Schools student, and I believe our school board needs more people with a direct, daily stake in the decisions it makes.
When the board votes on classroom resources, transportation, technology, school construction or support for educators, those decisions affect my son and thousands of children like him. I know the hope parents place in our public schools, but I also know the frustration of trying to get answers when something goes wrong.
My experience as PTA president has shown me what is possible when educators and families are treated as partners. It has also shown me how often parents and teachers are expected to compensate for problems they did not create. Our communities are full of people ready to help, but they need a school system that listens to them, communicates honestly and follows through.
I am not running because the school board is a political stepping stone. I am running because my child is in these schools and because every family deserves someone on the board who understands what its decisions look like from the school entrance, the classroom and the bus stop.
I want every child in Prince George’s County to attend a school where they are known, challenged, protected and given every opportunity to thrive.
What makes you a good candidate for the board?
I am a good candidate because I have already spent years bringing people together to solve problems for Prince George's County Public Schools students and families.
As PTA president at a diverse Title I community school, I have built partnerships among families, educators, businesses, nonprofit organizations and elected leaders. I have helped raise substantial resources for classroom supplies, field trips, family assistance and student programming while advocating for a long-overdue new school building.
My leadership has also been tested when families were afraid and needed someone to act. When immigrant parents feared leaving their homes because of immigration enforcement, I connected families with trusted resources and organized transportation and walks home from bus stops so their children would not be left without support. I have organized food, clothing, school supplies and holiday assistance for families experiencing hardship.
Professionally, I have managed teams, built coalitions, raised resources and held organizations accountable for results. I know how to listen to people with different perspectives, develop a plan and move people toward a shared goal.
A board member must do more than identify problems. They must earn trust, ask hard questions, understand budgets and data and turn community concerns into action. That is the work I have already been doing, and it is the experience I would bring to the board.
What is the most important issue facing your school board and what would you do about it if elected?
The most important issue facing Prince George's County Public Schools is rebuilding trust among families, educators, students and taxpayers by making the school system more reliable, transparent and accountable.
Families should be able to trust that buses will arrive, children will be placed on the correct routes, classrooms will be staffed, buildings will be safe and important information will be communicated clearly. Taxpayers should be able to see how public dollars are being spent and whether those investments are producing results for students.
Families also deserve confidence that technology is being used responsibly and appropriately. Digital tools should support learning, not replace teachers, reading, writing, creativity or human interaction. Parents should know which platforms students are using, how student information is protected and whether technology purchased by the district is educationally effective.
Transportation is another clear example. When a bus skips a stop or takes a child to the wrong location, that is not merely an inconvenience. It is a student safety failure. Bus drivers, teachers and school staff should not be blamed for systemic problems they did not create.
I would push for clear public performance standards covering transportation, staffing, technology, spending, family communication and responses to complaints. Families understand that large systems sometimes make mistakes. What destroys trust is silence, confusion and repeated failures without accountability. The board must communicate honestly, track results and ensure that promises are followed by measurable action.
Please name a public leader you admire and explain why.
I admire José Andrés because when people need help, he shows up and gets to work. He does not wait for someone else to solve the problem. He brings people together, figures out what is needed, and makes it happen.
As a father, he understands that making sure families are fed is about more than providing a meal. It is about helping people feel safe, cared for and less alone during some of the hardest moments of their lives.
That really speaks to me. I have helped organize food, clothing, transportation and other resources for families in my own school community. I have seen how much it matters when someone listens and responds with real help.
Andrés demonstrates that leadership is not about having permission to lead. It is about recognizing and fulfilling the needs of your community. That is the kind of leader I try to be.
The Blueprint for Maryland’s Future, passed by the General Assembly in 2021, is a 10-year plan that includes increased funding to support early childhood education, higher teacher starting pay, college/career-readiness standards for high school graduates, and expanded services to multilingual and impoverished families, among other goals. Since the Blueprint's implementation, test scores have increased modestly in many parts of the state, but some school officials complain about the costs and administrative burdens placed on them by the Blueprint. Please tell us your views on the Blueprint and how it is affecting your school district.
I support the Blueprint because I have seen what sustained public investment can mean for children and families. I have shown up in Annapolis to fight for its funding, not as a lobbyist or elected official, but as a Prince George's County Public Schools parent who knows what is at stake.
At Hyattsville Elementary, I helped lead the community advocacy that made our new school building a reality. For years, families pushed for the safe, modern school our children deserved. That experience taught me that progress requires parents, educators, elected leaders and communities to keep showing up, even when change takes years.
The Blueprint makes that same long-term commitment to early childhood education, better educator pay, college and career readiness and additional support for multilingual learners and families living in poverty. These are not abstract policy goals. They affect whether my son has an experienced teacher, whether his classmates receive the support they need and whether every child enters the classroom ready to learn.
Implementation has created real financial and administrative challenges for Prince George's County Public Schools. We should streamline unnecessary reporting and ensure the state fully funds the responsibilities it creates. But we cannot use implementation challenges as an excuse to retreat.
I will continue fighting for the Blueprint while demanding transparency about where the money goes and whether it reaches students. Families should be able to see the difference these investments are making in their own schools.
Chronic absenteeism has been a problem in many schools since the Covid-19 pandemic. How big of a problem is absenteeism in your school district, and what if anything can the Board of Education do about it?
Chronic absenteeism is a serious problem, but we are not looking closely enough at why children are missing school. In our community, immigration enforcement has had a significant effect on attendance. Some parents are afraid to leave their homes, walk to a bus stop or interact with public institutions.
Too often, Prince George's County Public Schools responds to absenteeism by threatening families or treating parents as if they are the problem. That effectively criminalizes people who may be dealing with fear, unreliable transportation, housing instability, health concerns, bullying or unmet special education needs. These families need support, not threats.
The board should review attendance notices, referral practices and interventions to ensure they are supportive rather than punitive. Schools need multilingual outreach, trusted community partners, reliable transportation, counselors, social workers and staff who can identify barriers early. Accountability matters, but we will not improve attendance until families trust that asking for help will bring assistance rather than punishment.
Are you satisfied with your school district's policy on AI use by students? If so, why? If not, what would you suggest to improve the AI policy?
I believe Prince George's County Public Schools' current AI policy is a strong starting point, but families still need greater transparency about how it is being implemented. AI can support education, but it should never replace educators, human relationships or independent thinking.
Our students should not be guinea pigs for untested technology. Before Prince George's County Public Schools purchases or expands an AI tool, there should be independent evidence that it improves learning, protects student information and does not reinforce bias. Teachers, students and parents should be involved in selecting and regularly reviewing these tools. No high-stakes decision about a student should ever be made by AI alone.
Students also need age-appropriate AI literacy. They should understand how these tools work, how to recognize bias and inaccurate information and when using AI prevents them from doing their own work. Families deserve to know which tools are being used, what information is collected and whether these investments are actually helping students learn.
Youth mental health has been a growing concern for years now. Do you think your school district has the resources and personnel in place to deal with this issue adequately? If not, what would you suggest to improve the situation?
A student’s mental health is central to their success in school, and Prince George's County Public Schools does not currently have adequate resources to meet the need.
Late this summer, Prince George's County Public Schools ended a contract with a provider that placed 30 behavioral therapists in our schools. These therapists provided critical support to countless students, including my own child. Removing that support without a clear replacement plan leaves students, families, teachers and already-overburdened school staff to absorb the consequences.
We need more mental health supports for our children, not fewer. Mental health services are not an extra to be cut when budgets are tight. They are essential to learning, attendance, safety and belonging. That commitment is why I am proud to be recognized as a Mental Health Now candidate.
Do you think there are circumstances when books should be removed from school libraries? If so, what kind of books should be removed, and who should make those decisions?
We should be preparing children for the world they actually live in, not an imagined version of it. Books that honestly reflect that world matter.
Libraries may remove books that are badly damaged, obsolete, factually unreliable or genuinely inappropriate for the ages served. But a book should not be removed simply because it discusses racism, religion, LGBTQ+ people, difficult history or families different from our own.
Challenges should be reviewed through a clear process led by qualified educators and librarians. Decisions should consider the entire book, its educational value, students’ ages and professional collection standards. One person’s objection should not determine what every family’s child is allowed to read.
As the father of a Black and Latino child in a two-dad family, I know representation matters. My son deserves to see his family in books, while also learning about lives beyond his own. Parents can guide their own children’s reading, but they should not restrict everyone else’s.
