Investigation finds Mansfield school board president meets residency requirement
The law firm representing the Mansfield school district determined school board president Jandel Crutchfield does meet residency requirements to serve as a trustee.
In a statement released Friday night, the board of trustees said district counsel Leasor Crass, P.C., completed an investigation into questions around Crutchfield’s residency. Last week it was reported that she had signed a homestead affidavit claiming she did not and had never lived in the Mansfield home she gave as her primary mailing address on candidate filing documents.
In the affidavit, Crutchfield claimed a home in Itasca, 40 miles away, as her homestead. But records show neither Crutchfield nor her husband, Johnoson Crutchfield, own that property.
“After reviewing utility bills, mortgage statements, bank statements, other records, and personal interviews, the findings are conclusive that Dr. Jandel Crutchfield is a resident of Mansfield ISD and has been since at least 2018,” the board’s statement read. “She is therefore legally eligible to serve on the Board of Trustees.”
Neither of the Crutchfields responded to questions about the homestead affidavit and why Jandel Crutchfield said she didn’t live in the Mansfield home. Johnoson Crutchfield texted the board’s statement to the Star-Telegram on Friday night, but he declined to comment when asked again about the homestead affidavit.