Help us improve in just 2 minutes—share your thoughts in our reader survey.
Jonathan Stone (California)
From Ballotpedia
This page was last updated during the official's most recent election or appointment. Please contact us with any updates.
Jonathan Stone is a member of the Tustin Unified School District school board in California, representing Trustee Area 4. He assumed office on December 11, 2020. His current term ends on December 8, 2028.
Stone ran for re-election to the Tustin Unified School District school board to represent Trustee Area 4 in California. He won in the general election on November 5, 2024.
Stone completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. Click here to read the survey answers.
Biography
Jonathan Stone was born in Orange, California. He graduated from Foothill High School. He earned a bachelor's degree from the University of California, Davis in 1993. His career experience includes working as a general manager in industries including, technology training, real estate, and marketing. He has been affiliated with the Sons of the American Legion, Habitat for Humanity Orange County, and the Tustin Chamber of Commerce.[1]
Elections
2024
See also: Tustin Unified School District, California, elections (2024)
General election
General election for Tustin Unified School District school board Trustee Area 4
Incumbent Jonathan Stone defeated Mark McCallie in the general election for Tustin Unified School District school board Trustee Area 4 on November 5, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Jonathan Stone (Nonpartisan)  | 65.4 | 4,040 |
| Mark McCallie (Nonpartisan) | 34.6 | 2,135 | ||
| Total votes: 6,175 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Endorsements
Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Stone in this election.
2020
See also: Tustin Unified School District, California, elections (2020)
General election
The general election was canceled. Jonathan Stone (Nonpartisan) won without appearing on the ballot.
Campaign themes
2024
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Jonathan Stone completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Stone's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
| Collapse all
I believe in the transformative power of public education. It served my family well and I joined the school board to ensure that it does the same for yours. I was raised by Tustin Unified teachers, attended Tustin Unified schools, and my daughter also attended Tustin Unified schools. In addition to our deep roots in the community, I served as chairman of the Tustin Chamber of Commerce, where I endorsed a technology bond (Measure S) that transformed our schools and brought them into the 21st Century. I also served three terms on the Measure S Citizens oversight committee, and as co-chair of bond Measure N. I coached youth softball and soccer, and volunteer with Habitat for Humanity OC on their Interfaith Outreach committee. Tustin Unified is a strong district with excellent schools, I serve to protect the progress made in Tustin Unified and ensure that robust, rigorous education remains available to every student within our boundary.
- We must continue, and expand, on the success of our early readers initiative. There is a very high correlation between achieving reading comprehension at grade level by the Third Grade and graduating from high school. By implementing a refreshed curriculum based on the tried and true Orton-Gillingham phonetic methodology, we've seen incredible improvement in early reader outcomes. It's important that we continue to support the expansion of this program across all school sites.
- Tustin Unified will continue to expand career readiness offerings including Career Technical Education (CTE) and early college enrollment. Last year, we increased our offerings to over 50 different career paths. In addition, we've seen a marked increase in the number of students taking advantage of dual enrollment, whereby they are able to take community college courses while still enrolled in high school. Last year over 250 students gradutated from Tustin schools with both a high school diploma and an Associates degree. Tustin Unified is a leader in developing expanded offerings to give our students an early step up in their pursuit of careers and college success.
- Tustin Unified must work to repair and upgrade our oldest facilities to better serve our student body. Many of our school sites are now over 60 years old and in need of significant repairs and upgrades beyond the scope on typical budgeted maintenance. We must pass Measure J, a school bond designed to take advantage of state matching funds derived from Proposition 2, in order to allow for significant rehabilitation work on our oldest school sites, including replumbing, rewiring, and reroofing schools built in the 1950s and 60s.
Public schools have a mandate to serve ALL students within their district boundaries. I view this as an obligation to create the best possible environment for our students, to give them the best possible start to their lives. Unlike charter and private schools, public schools do not choose their students. We meet every child where they are and deliver to them an education which meets their needs and abilities. For some that means extra services, for others it may mean enrichment, regardless of where they come from, or what resources they have, it's a school district's job to give them the best possible start as they grow into independence. One way we achieve this in Tustin is to provide universal free lunch, a policy I support.
As I mentioned earlier, I'm a fan of Harry Truman. I have also long been a Churchillian. In neither case were these men without fault. They both held positions broadly unacceptable by today's standards and yet their careers both have something to teach us about ambition, resolution in the face of failure, moral rectitude, and the usefulness of a deep understanding of history. Both men lead fascinating lives, were elevated to the pinnacle of power and the most momentus of occassions and both were summarily set aside. Importantly, both lived long enough to share self reflections on their respective lives; their reasoning, gaffes, and errors, as well as their triumphs. Men of their time, certainly, but also men for the ages.
Plain Speaking: an Oral Biography of Harry S Truman, by Merle Miller. Originally a series of interviews of the former President recorded shortly before his death and intended for a television series, Miller repurposed the hours of recordings into an engrossing and candid single volume biography of one of our most consequential leaders. Truman speaks at length about his shortcomings and numerous failings but also about his decision making process, as informed by his upbringing. The book introduced me to the word 'rectitude', describing Truman's rule of always trying his best to do the right thing, even when it might not be convenient or politically expedient for him personally. I think about this book, and Harry Truman, often. He wasn't perfect (and who of us is) but I believe that he took his role seriously and did his level best to do right by the people of the United States.
The defining characteristic for anyone holding public office is a genuine interest in the welfare of the people they serve. Subject matter expertise is important, but only in that it serves the interest of constituents. A person elected to office needs to believe that they can make the institution work for the people it serves.
I am a lifelong learner, and that alone is an indispensible quality for an officeholder. I commincate directly, am compassionate, and judge soberly, all qualities of an effective leader. In the context of a board, I hold my opinions lightly, actively seek out the opinion of other member, work to build compromise, and hopefully, maintain a sense of humor. I've served as a governing board member on the Tustin Unified School Board for four years and am endorsed by every member who intends to serve beyond this November.
A public servant owes his constituents fidelity to the truth, transparency of process, and decision making and risk taking that is in the interest of those served. An elected official must fulfill the duties of office to the best of their ability. Take the steps necessary to educate themselves so as to be able to make educated decisions. They should prioritize the public good above their personal benefit, perhaps above their personal preference, when that preference doesn't serve the larger electorate. In the role of School Board Trustee, the key responsibilities are oversight of the Superintendent and the financial health of the school district. A board may excercise guidance in regards to curricula and materials, but it is important that the district always maintains fidelity to the California Education Code (ed code).
I have vague memories of the Iranian Hostage Crisis, but I think the I remember most vividly was the destruction of the Space Shuttle Challenger. I was a high school freshman and we watched the launch on a TV in our classroom, our response to the explosion a mixture of disbelief, shock, and a profound sadness. I went home and sat with my grandmother, watching the ongoing coverage, the contrail, explosion, and twin booster separations leaving an indelible impression.
It's hard to choose a single book, but one I highly recommend is a science fiction novel, "The Space Merchants", written by Frederick Pohl and Cyril Kornbluth in the early 1950s. Despite being over 70 years old it is a remarkably sharp critique of American capitalism and the dangers of abdicating societal obligations to the vicissitudes of the marketplace. It's a short, funny read, made more remarkable by it's prescience.
A governing board's primary role is one of financial oversight. First and foremost, it's imperative that the district is run well and within sustainable means. A board has only one employee, the superintendent. Hiring a superintendent is perhaps the single most important aspect of the job. Each board member has the responsibility of providing support and guidance to the superintendent as well as holding them accountable.
We are elected by Area, but once installed in office, our school board constituency is every person who lives within our boundary. Our students certainly stand out, but the board has a duty to every tax payer within the district boundary to ensure the safe and effective operation of our schools. Quality schools make great neighborhoods and have an outsized impact on home values, making school district performance important to constituents who may not have children in school.
Tustin Unified does an effective job of supporting the varied needs of our stakeholders. Our students enjoy access to education tailored to their needs, be it additional support, enrichment opportunities, or magnet programs. Our Title I schools now host community rooms, spaces that connect families with community services and provide help navigating the school system. Tustin Unified maintains open communication between administration and the classfied and certificated employees' unions to ensure our staff have a voice in the operation of our district.
Tustin Unified maintains both formal and informal membership in a number of community organizations including chambers of commerce, service clubs, and charitable organizations. The City of Tustin, Tustin Public Schools Foundation, Rotary, Lions, and others are represented among our stakeholders.
Good teaching engages students' attention and sparks an interest in the subject matter. Success if measured by both student engagement and performance against standardized metrics. I love seeing classroom teachers give free rein to their creativity when it comes to their approach in the classroom, capturing the interest and imagination of the students is the key to teaching success.
Tustin Unified is a leader in offering advanced career focused technical training and apprenticeships. Last year we had over 1000 high school students complete at least one Career Technical Education (CTE) track. As a district we are moving away from a focus on university as the goal of high school education, rather career preparation is our goal, and we are expanding and broadening our offerings to help students reach their career goals via technical training, early access to college, and internships. I'd like to see us expand our focus into the skilled trades, carpentry, welding, plumbing and electrical work, giving our students opportunities to explore the trades as a viable career path.
To truly fund education properly would require a reevaluation of our national priorities. I hope I live long enough to see it. District budgets are derived by student attendance, so our best strategy is to be sure that we are offering the course work that students (and their parents) want. Tustin Unified addresses this demand by offering a variety of enhanced educational opportunities, including Advanced Placement and Honors classes, International Baccalaureate, Model United Nations, magnet programs in STEM and Entrepreneurship, language immersion, dual enrollment and Career Technical Education. Tustin also offers an online enrollment option for students who are in unique situations such as amateur athletics, or early employment. All of these offerings serve to attract and keep students enrolled in Tustin Unified classes and by extension, maintain school funding. In addition, Tustin Unified pursues state, federal, and private grant dollars to underwrite specialty and technical curriculums.
Tustin Unified has invested heavily to provide enhanced mental health services to students. Getting at risk students the help they need is the single most effective preventative measure the district can take to reduce violence in the school system. Like all districts, we have hardened our sites against external intrusion and we continue to upgrade and improve our ability to observe and lockdown campuses.
Since 2020, Tustin Unified has expanded the number of nurses, mental health professionals, and administrators onsite to support the needs of our students, staff, and families. Identifying needs and creating access to resources are two ways that we support mental health on our campuses.
Tustin Unified has already implemented an Alternative to Suspension policy. Expansion of Restorative Justice practices are shown to be good for both student welfare and outcomes, so I'd like to see us continue to move in that direction.
Tustin Educators Association
The Democratic Party of Orange County (DPOC)
Orange County Young Democrats
Women for American Values and Ethics (WAVE)
Planned Parenthood
Orange County Labor Federation (OCLF)
Western Carpenters Union
Tustin Unified School Board Members, Jonathan Abelove, Allyson Damikolas, and Lynn Davis
Tustin City Council Members, Letitia Clark and Beckie Gomez
I'm content to leave this to the classroom teacher. Each has their own style and I trust our educators to build a classroom culture accreditive to their subject and task.
Tustin Unified was fortunate in that our investment, in 2012, in a technology bond, meant that TUSD was prepared to continue teaching remotely immediately. Students were able to login and have access to class materials and instruction without missing a scheduled day of class from March 2020 forward. With the benefit of hindsight, it becomes easy to see how we might have made some different decisions, and how we might have adjusted how we taught; lessons we'll internalize for the next crisis, but overall, I am very proud of our district, we missed no time, and we were among the earliest to reopen and restart organized sports.
The Tustin Unified School Board engages with site Parent Teacher organizations (both PTO and PTA) via the Coordinating Council. Informally, we are available via email and regularly on school sites and at public events.
Tustin has built a reputation as a district people wish to work in. We recruit faculty and staff from regional universities and receive applications from employees in neighboring districts. To find the right superintendent, we selected a reputable educational executive search firm, that has a reputation and long track record of successful district/superintendent matchmaking.
As fiduciary stewards of your tax dollars, it's encumbent upon elected officials to make every effort to be as transparent as possible about the ongoing operation of the organization with which you've been entrusted. The job of a public servant is to make the system work for the citizenry it serves, and it's imperative to show that work.
Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.
2020
Jonathan Stone did not complete Ballotpedia's 2020 Candidate Connection survey.
See also
2024 Elections
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on September 25, 2024
