Local attorney announces run for School Board

Attorney Linda Schorsch Jones has announced that she will run for the At-Large seat on the Waynesboro School Board in the May 1 general election.

A long-time Waynesboro resident, Jones graduated from Stuarts Draft High School in 1982 and from the University of Virginia in 1986, earning a bachelor of arts degree with honors in English including a minor in foreign affairs. As an undergraduate, she spent a semester studying at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

She went on to law school at the University of Richmond, where she obtained her juris doctorate in 1989. In law school she had the opportunity to spend a semester studying at Cambridge University in England and to have clerkships with both the state Attorney General’s Office (Mary Sue Terry) and the Henrico County Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office (Jim Gilmore).

It is her own “unique educational opportunities” that she says have provided her with insight into the enormous value of education and in great part are what inspired her to enter the School Board race.

Jones clerked for the Virginia Supreme Court upon graduation from law school and then served as an assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney for Harrisonburg/Rockingham County. She has been an attorney at Poindexter, Schorsch, Jones & Hill, P.C. in Waynesboro since 1991 and became an equity partner with management responsibilities in 1994. For over 20 years she has focused her law practice in the areas of child custody and divorce.

Jones is married to Steve Jones, acting Special Agent in Charge of the Virginia Department of Alcohol Beverage Control Bureau of Law Enforcement’s Staunton Region. Linda and Steve have two children, Zachary, who is an 11th-grade student at Waynesboro High School and the Shenandoah Valley Governor’s School and Seth, who is a ninth-grader at Waynesboro High School.

Jones is a certified guardian ad litem for the 25th Judicial Circuit, where she represents the interests of children in various types of litigation. She has served on the boards of directors of Blue Ridge Legal Services and Valley Pastoral Counseling. She has also served in various leadership roles in the Waynesboro Junior Women’s Club and has been a Cub Scout den leader. She actively provides pro bono legal services to indigent clients and speaks frequently to school classes and civic organizations about various legal issues.

“My decision to run for a seat on Waynesboro’s School Board,” she explains, “is motivated by my belief that educating children should be the single most important concern of our community. My own children have reaped the benefit of the education that the city of Waynesboro has provided, and I would like to be involved in the continued successes of our school division. This includes ensuring that each student is guaranteed a quality education and that resources are allocated responsibly and appropriately. As an owner of a small business in Waynesboro, mother and attorney, I believe that I have the experience needed to effectively assist the city in this capacity.”