My 2002 Personal Priorities
The material on this web page reflects my priorities when entering my first school board campaign in 2002. I had already participated in two bond campaigns, so I wasn't really a novice to the school district operations. However, in retrospect I think that I really was a novice. Once you become a board member, you are immersed into a group of professional educators with many years of experience and PhD's in education. On top of all that, the senior administrators are almost always on region/state committees. So the collective knowledge within the senior administrator group is mind boggling.
On a lighter note, I asked some of the new board members their feelings. Here are the common feelings for the first few years:
- You start to realize how much you don't know and how fast things move. It's pretty intimidating.
- You feel that you're starting to get the hang of it, but you are still surprised at what you don't know and what the senior administrators do know when you have to get into a particular subject in depth. It's never as simple as it seems.
- Now you're starting to roll. You have established some good relationships and you have a much better understanding of your role as a board member.
Keeping in mind that this document was written in 2002, I thought that it would be useful to reflect on some of those stated priorities. I have a new web page to address my 2008 formula for success.
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We must handle the growth
Having served on two bond committees and particularly as chairman of the last one, I am keenly aware of this issue. As a board member, I want to make sure that we are pursuing all avenues to lessen the impact of Robin Hood on our children. I also want to make sure that we get the most for our money. Like our current board, I will not tolerate excesses nor poor performance from our contractors.
Aside from the issues of funding our growth, we must ensure that the proper facilities are in place at the time that the growth dictates. This means that we must be very, very careful and thorough in our planning process, along with establishing risk contingency and mitigation plans.
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If you have been in Frisco ISD for even a short period of time, you already know that Frisco ISD is the fastest growing school district in the state of Texas. In my opinion the district has done a wonderful job keeping up with the growth while at the same time keeping our tax rates lower than any of our neighboring school districts.
I have served on the Long Range Planning/Capital Improvements/Site Committee for the last six years. This is the committee that works with the administrative staff in developing long-range plans for facilities and programs, reviews architectural plans on new construction and renovations/additions; assists the administrative staff in locating school sites, and deciding where to build and when.
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We must have excellent teachers
We must attract and retain the best teachers. The current Frisco ISD board has implemented some excellent additions to the overall benefits package addressing both retirement and insurance issues. I intend to support more of these incentives to attract the best teachers, including the establishment of an onsite day care facility. But if a teacher is having difficulties, the district needs the resources to get them immediate help and not force them to struggle through the difficulties on their own.
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Working with administration, our school board has tried to put together a package to attract and retain the best teachers. It has been a difficult task given the number that we must hire each year, but I am proud of our teachers and think that overall they are the best.
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We must enrich our curriculum
We must continually and aggressively target improvements in our total curriculum. The state may use its tests and supply us the base curriculum, but we need to measure our district performance on a much broader scale.
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I am very pleased that our current board places such a priority on curriculum improvements. We have added experienced staff and funding to the curriculum department, while at the same time working hard to keep our tax rate one of the lowest in the area.
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Safety
This is a priority that obviously goes without saying. As a board member, I will make sure that this is high priority in the budget planning process. I am a strong supporter of our zero tolerance philosophy regarding drugs, alcohol, fighting, harassment, etc.
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As a parent with three children in the district this is certainly going to remain at the top of my priority list. Then again, every Frisco ISD Board member has children in the district so it should come as no surpise that safety is one of the top priorities of the entire school board.
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Advanced classes at the elementary level
I am a firm believer that we need to get all children off to the best start possible. It is clear that children learn at different rates and enter elementary with a widely divergent background. But our elementary schools must foster each child’s educational growth as this is represents such a critical phase in their learning abilities. I will work with the other board members to address the need for differentiated, individualized instruction at the elementary level and ensure that there are sufficient funds in the budget.
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I must admit that this priority morphed a bit once I got onto the board. We did bring in some great programs at the elementary level such as Lone Star Challenge, UIL Competition and Destination Imagination. But our focus has to be on all students at all levels. While a district rating of "Recognized" is certainly a complement, our priority must remain on each and every student. We want them to excel acadamically and also to grow by participating in numerous activities.
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