DALTON, Ga. — Jamie Johnson, a captain with the Dalton Police Department, has been appointed by a Whitfield County grand jury to the Whitfield County Board of Education, effective immediately, to fill Rodney Lock’s unexpired term, which ends Dec. 31.

Lock resigned from the District 2 seat in May, citing the impact being on the board was having on his family business.

Johnson is also one of two candidates, along with Terry Ross, in the Nov. 6 special Republican Party primary for the District 2 seat.

“I’m very excited and honored to get an opportunity to serve on the Whitfield County school board,” Johnson said Thursday evening. “I would like to thank the grand jury for their time and consideration. I look forward to working with the members of the school board and to continue to make the school system the best it can be.”

Johnson, who has children ages 8 and 10 in the school system, said he is “passionate about education.”

Asked if there are any areas he will focus on, he said he would like to see the number of students reading on grade level increase, “and of course you always want the graduation rate to come up.”

“The school system has done some good things and gotten some grants to get that (number of students reading on grade level) up,” he said. 

A $3.5 million grant to be used to improve literacy among students was announced by the school system in June. The Whitfield system is one of 38 school systems in the state to receive the Literacy for Learning, Living and Leading grants awarded by the Georgia Department of Education.

“I’m eager to get in there and learn what I need to do and help out on the school board,” Johnson said. “I think we’ve got a strong school board and a strong superintendent (Judy Gilreath). I look forward to working with all of them. I just want to keep it on the good path the way they’ve done the past few years.”

Johnson has been with the police department for 18 years. He has been married to his wife Jennifer for 13 years. He is a community coach with the Whitfield County Parks and Recreation Department. He ran unsuccessfully for the District 2 seat in the Republican primary in 2014.

Ross is the owner of Rave Carpets in Dalton and says he previously served on the school board from 1989 to 2000.

Lock was elected to the school board in 2010 and was re-elected in 2014. He was the sole Republican to qualify for the seat in March. No Democrat qualified. With his victory in the May GOP primary, Lock appeared set for a third term. But his resignation and withdrawal from the race have forced the county to hold another GOP primary. The general election for that seat, which will also be a special election, will be on March 19, 2019. It will only include the winner of the GOP primary, since no Democrat qualified originally, and any independent or write-in candidates.