Dropout Joins State Board Of Education Otter Says Jerry Hess Will Bring ‘Particular Attribute’ To Panel

The newest member of the Idaho Board of Education is a 10th-grade dropout without even a high school equivalency diploma.

But Jerry Hess sees no conflict between his own lack of formal education and helping direct the education of all Idaho public school and college and university students.

“I haven’t had a particular problem,” he said.

“I’ve gone to education classes and gotten what I needed.”

Gov. Phil Batt appointed the successful Nampa contractor to the board last Friday to fill a vacancy left by the resignation of former Micron Technology Inc. chairman Joe Parkinson, whose term runs through March 1997.

Hess, 57, was a Nampa School Board member from 1971 to 1980 and was on the state Permanent Building Fund Advisory Council from 1978 to 1987.

He was appointed to Micron Technology’s board of directors last year.

Lt. Gov. Butch Otter, who screens many of the candidates the governor’s office considers for appointment, said being a dropout made Hess the perfect choice for the board.

“One of the biggest problems we have in K through 12 is how do we keep these kids interested,” Otter said.

“What a great advantage it is for us to have a person who chose to quit school, knew why he quit school and went on to be successful.”

He said three factors are considered in choosing Board of Education members.

“One of those is how involved have they been in the education process, not simply as a student, but on the local school boards,” Otter said.

The other two criteria are a lack of personal biases - particularly those favoring one of the state’s three universities - and the person’s ability to be a problem solver and consensus builder.

Hess said he never took the General Educational Development test for high school equivalency, but he audited some classes at Boise State University.

He founded J.M. Hess Construction Co. in 1959 and has contracted many large construction projects for the Idaho Transportation Department, Mountain Home Air Force Base, Gowen Field and Morrison Knudsen Corp. He also owns farming interests and a truck scales company.

Otter said he was pleased with the governor’s choice.

“I think Jerry brings a focus and brings a particular attribute to the board that we haven’t ever dealt with before,” he said.

“We usually look for college graduates with master’s and doctorates.”