Longtime Wylie area resident, teacher and coach, Jerry Shaffer, has announced his candidacy for the office of Justice of the Peace in Collin County, Precinct 2. Shaffer has lived in the Wylie area since coming to Wylie in 1974 as Athletic Director and Head Football Coach.
After fourteen years in Wylie, Shaffer served the Carrollton-Farmers Branch ISD as District Athletic Director for seven years. Since then he has taught in Farmersville and Wylie as well as at Collin College.
Before coming to Wylie, Shaffer taught in Rockwall, Kilgore, Duncanville and Sherman. Along the way he worked as a research physicist for a geophysical research company in Midland for a number of years and also taught at Midland College, Austin College and Purdue University.
Shaffer grew up in Fannin County and graduated from Leonard High School. He holds a Bachelor's of Arts degree from Austin College in physics and mathematics, a Master of Science degree from Purdue in physics and mathematics, and he holds a Doctorate in Educational Management and Physics from Texas A & M Commerce.
Dr. Shaffer has experienced success in a wide variety of endeavors. In academia he did research in the physical sciences and was inducted into Sigma Pi Sigma, the National Physics Honor Society. In athletics he coached a State Championship football team, a State Championship finalist and was a top assistant in another State Championship as well as numerous District, Bi-District, and Regional winners. He has also owned and operated several small businesses.
After spending over thirty years serving in public education Shaffer has deep institutional understanding on truancy and its effects on students. His experience of leading athletes on the field and instructing students in the classroom has enabled him to reach disaffected youth and guide them back on course. He has had a lifetime of making important decisions, and gaining the trust of his community which will serve him well if given the opportunity to serve as Justice of the Peace in Precinct 2.
Shaffer is a member of the First Baptist Church of Wylie where he has led Bible study for many years. He is married to the former Ollene Carpenter of Greenville. Together they have four children, eight grandchildren and one great granddaughter.
Shaffer will run as a Republican in next year's March primary.