The Clayborn file
Where she came from: Colerain
Children: Brandon, 20, Jonathan, 19
Husband: Eddie Clayborn, information systems for Health Alliance
Community involvement: Leader of the Concerned African American Parents of Fairfield. To get involved e-mail jclaybor@live.com.
Career: TRi Health information systems senior programmer
Pets: Cockerspaniel Panther
Education: 1985 graduate of Colerain High School
If parents want to see change, they must get involved, said Fairfield resident Jackie Clayborn.
It’s a message she wants black parents to take to heart.
The mother to two college students and leader of Concerned African American Parents of Fairfield said that when one is passionate about something and desires to see change, getting involved is the way to go about it.
“I think it shows teachers and administrators that ‘Oh, wait a minute, this parent does really care,’” she said. “I think I’ve changed a lot of opinions.”
A districtwide effort for racial equity, she said, is part of a national effort to close the achievement gap for minority students. Also, she said, it is a chance to teach parents, teachers and administrators that communication is key to breaking down racial barriers.
School board President Jerome Kearns said cultural competency and racial equity has been a district priority for the past year and will continue to take precedence.
“We recognize that historically there has been an achievement gap as it relates to race,” he said. “It’s through efforts such as (Clayborn’s) that we’re able to bring people together to tackle this. It’s very difficult work. It really challenges your background, your thoughts in how you look at things. I really look for a lot of good things to come out of that work.”
Clayborn said many black parents typically have not felt comfortable in traditional parent-teacher organization groups and often don’t feel represented, she said.
She said parents often call her with issues that have upset them. But they don’t speak up and talk to administrators or teachers to solve those issues. The district leaders, she said, are happy to have those discussions and work through issues.
“I just think a lot of people think nothing’s going to get done, and it’s simply not true.”
Clayborn leads by example
Jackie Clayborn no longer has children in the Fairfield City School District, but her job as a parent advocate is far from finished.
As leader of the Concerned African American Parents of Fairfield, she said it is her goal to get more parents involved and to help them understand they too have a voice.
“We all complain about the same issues that are occurring in the district,” she said. “I encourage them to get involved, because we really can be heard.”
That is something she learned quickly upon moving into the district from Colerain several years ago.
“Having two African American males, I had run into some issues where I was consistently going to have conversations with teachers or administrators,” she said. “I wanted to be involved when I got out here to try to make things better.”
About a year ago, she said former FHS Principal Paul Waller and Assistant Principal Austin Sanders invited her organization to meet at the high school once a month. Prior to that, she said the group felt like it was not truly a part of the district. Since joining with the district, the organization has been able to help out the student organization Voices of African American Youth and has worked to gain more exposure.
“I think we’ve come a long way from a year ago,” she said.
Her group not only identified some areas of concern, but it has set goals, which include establishing a mentoring program for students this year and recruiting more parents to get involved. The group also is trying to encourage more black teachers and administrators to work for the district.
“She’s an asset,” Sanders said. “It’s obvious to me that she has a great passion for the school district and she wants all students to have a good experience.”
Parents who talk to Clayborn walk away with a good feeling about the district, he said. Her work, which includes recruiting parents for committees and participating with the district’s interracial parent advisory board and athletic boosters, has not gone unnoticed, he said.
“Her belief is you can’t do anything unless you are involved,” he said. “Really and truly, the district is open to suggestions from people from all walks of life.”
Clayborn said she tells parents she does not have an agenda beyond helping make the educational experience smoother for black families in Fairfield.
“I have nothing to gain from this,” she said. “My kids are gone, so if I’m still here working to make things better for the school district, people who have kids could do the same.”
Even with her sons in college, she attends each monthly meeting, coordinates e-mails and keeps everyone in the loop.
Leading the group has come naturally to her, she said, after years of experience in coordinating people in her jobs with Tri Health.
Starting as a unit coordinator, she worked on a maternity floor before getting promoted to patient accounting. From there, she said she moved her way up to supervisor for seven years. Now, she works in information systems.
She and her husband, Eddie, often commute together to Cincinnati. He works in information systems with Health Alliance. The couple enjoys spending time with their sons, especially attending their sporting events, as well as time spent together at movies or concerts. Clayborn said she also has started a new hobby. She and her sister Dawn Drayton bowl once a week at Gilmore Lanes in Fairfield.
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