John Haley
John L. Haley Jr. spent more than 30 years in Bay District Schools as a teacher, dean of students, assistant principal, principal of J.R. Arnold High School and the district's first executive director of operations. He also founded New Covenant Church, where he is senior pastor, and Doc Homes LLC. He finished second in the August 2026 primary and advanced to the November runoff against incumbent Chris Moore.
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Positions on the major issues
Compare with opponents →Each entry describes what the candidate has said or done, and what they say they will do, in neutral terms with sources. The chip shows how that relates to the statement voters rate in the matching tool.
Library and classroom materials Strongly disagrees· stated position
Haley says students should keep choosing their own reading material and that a parent who objects should have their own child read something else rather than have the book removed for everyone.
"Schools should continue to allow students to read books of their choosing."
Teacher and staff pay Leans agree· stated position
Haley proposes raising compensation for teachers and support staff through $50,000 down-payment assistance, $10,000 in closing-cost help, a 3% supplement for ESE teachers and subsidized housing partnerships with the city, while also saying the district's recent overspending is unsustainable.
School safety approach Leans agree· stated position
Haley says nothing matters more than student and staff safety and backs strong security measures and support for school resource officers, citing his record as a principal of keeping narcotics off campus; he also names bullying and school climate as part of the safety question.
"While I worked as an assistant principal and principal, I kept narcotics off campuses by arresting more than 240 offenders in a nine-year period."
No public position found on 4 issues
We searched campaign sites, questionnaires, interviews, votes and official actions and did not find a clear stance on: Taxes & spending, Property taxes, Education & school choice, Gender identity laws. This is reported as unknown rather than guessed from party affiliation; these issues are excluded from this candidate's match score.
Other issues this candidate has raised
- District overspending — Haley says Bay District Schools overspent its budget by $5 million one year and $7 million the next and calls that pattern unsustainable; he says an energy-efficiency program he ran saved the district more than $2 million.
- Enrollment and competition — Haley says the district is losing students to charter, private and virtual schools and wants to raise student performance, market career and technical programs and improve parent communication so families choose Bay District Schools first.