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Below are questions for the Branch Herald’ s Voters Guide for the May 3 election for three seats on the Carrollton-Farmers Branch Independent School District (CFBISD) Board of Trustees.
1. Length of residency in the Carrollton-Farmers Branch (CFB) School District: 21 years
2. Why do you want to be a trustee for the CFBISD? I have been a CFBISD parent since my older daughter started school at kindergarten 8 years ago. I have a younger one who starts this year. Being a parent, I have had the privilege of getting to know several other families, children, teachers and school staff that our district serves. It gives me a unique perspective of what matters to the families. As a parent and as a board trustee, my top priority is the best educational outcome for all students, weighing every policy and decision with how it will affect the students and their educational outcome.
My strong experience in corporate leadership has given me the skills of being laser focused on measurable outcomes while building teams and a community that is motivated, driven and empowered.
Raising education outcomes needs a community effort - invested teachers who feel supported to go the extra mile for their students; efficient administrators at the school who can run effective schools; engaged parents, students. A strong community engagement spanning the schools, district and the parents and students we serve is a foundation for best educational outcomes.
I believe we can do this while remaining fiscally responsible.
3. How many CFBISD meetings have you attended or watched online in the last year? ~10
4. What other civic responsibilities have you undertaken?
5. How has current CFBISD leadership influenced your decision to run for district board? Current CFBISD leadership has influenced my decision to run for the district board. As a parent I felt blindsided by the decision to consolidate and eliminate 4 schools from the district and move the LEAP program in elementary and middle school - by the lack of community engagement, lack of transparency in the decision-making process, lack of detailed analysis and planning for this grave decision.
As a parent, I have had the privilege of getting to know several other families, children, teachers and school staff that our district serves. It gives me a unique perspective of what matters to the families. As a parent and as a board trustee, my top priority is the best educational outcome for all students, weighing every policy and decision with how it will affect the students and their educational outcome. I believe we can do this with community engagement and while remaining fiscally responsible.
6. What makes you the most qualified candidate in your race and why? My background makes me the most qualified candidate for this race. I have the passion and relentless focus of a parent to ensure our decisions as a board elevate educational outcomes for our students, while continually listening and engaging with the community and measuring progress of outcomes to ensure we are on the right track. I have corporate leadership experience that has given me skills to be focused on outcomes and develop communities/teams based on mutual respect and collaboration.
As a first-generation immigrant in this country, I live and understand the nuanced experience of starting and growing a family, calling Carrollton my home. My background in leadership, my personal experiences of working hard and making a life for myself that resonate with so many of our families and my passion for quality education that is accessible to all our students makes me the most qualified candidate in this race.
7. As a school board member, what action, if any, would you take to adequately fund our schools? As a school board trustee, I would be reviewing the budget prepared by the district administration for the board review and approval. In my review, I would ensure the programs that are providing incredible value to our students and helping elevate the students are adequately funded and supported. I would be reviewing the district student performance to ensure we align our funding strategically towards student outcomes. I would also ensure the administration is auditing itself to keep a lean and efficient district board administration so that we keep most revenue dollars inside the classrooms.
Board decisions on budget and taxes should reflect long term strategic thinking that preserves best outcomes for our students over the long term.
I would make sure the district’s alignment with the board’s long-term vision and goals are reflective in the superintendent’s performance assessment.
8. As a school board trustee, once the school board votes to approve an action or policy, what do you believe is your responsibility to that policy or action? What is your responsibility if you did not support that policy or action? Once a policy or action is approved by the board, as a board trustee I would make sure the performance of that policy or action is measured and reviewed. This ensures it is meeting the board’s goals and vision. A data driven approach thatmeasures the outcomes would ensure the board remains true to its objective of highest educational outcomes for all students. As a board trustee I would make sure to include the performance of the policy during the annual review of the superintendent’s performance.
9. In the development of a school district budget, what goals and objectives would guide your decision making? CFBISD is home to a diverse student population. We have many different programs that address needs and support different student populations. I would review the performance of these programs, to ensure they are effective in supporting the student population they target. I would ensure the budget supports funding the variety of programs that support and help our students excel. I would make sure the budget reflects efficiency in administration so that most revenue dollars reach the classrooms. All the budget decisions I support would be aligning with the long-term success of the district’s goals of highest educational outcomes for all our students. It’s important for the district to adopt a budget with fiscal responsibility, so I would look for all places where cost efficiency can be gained to keep the district in green while still ensuring best educational outcomes for all students.
10. Describe how you would provide quality education for a diverse student population: i.e. the gifted and talented, the average students, the special needs students, the physically challenge, English language learners and cultural differences? CFBISD is the most diverse school district in the area. Catering to this diverse student population, CFBISD offers many unique programs including LEAP, GT, ABC, METSA, STEM, STEAM, AVID, Fine Arts, Dual Language etc. It is important to offer diverse programs to attract and engage the diverse student population. Many of these programs attract out of district students as well, that elevates the standing of CFBISD amongst other neighboring school districts, getting more revenue into our district. It is also important to review the performance of these programs, and engage with community dialogue to ensure the programs are meeting the needs for the students. We must ensure we are identifying students for specialized programs, while also marketing the specialized programs CFBISD offers.
11. How important are fine arts and extra-curricular activities such as athletics to an overall education? How should they be funded? No two students are the same. Extra-curricular activities such as athletics and fine arts are expressions of unique individualities of our student community. They are part of the overall education outcome for our students, as much as academic scores are. I would push for funding these activities to provide facilities, supplies and instruction to help students explore all different avenues for personal success. My goal for the highest educational outcome for all students includes extra-curricular and fine arts.
12. What is your view on charter schools? What role should the local school board play in approving charter schools? State chartered schools in Texas are authorized and overseen by the TEA and not the school board. That said, charter schools close to the district can lead to competing enrollments for public schools. Such a competitive relationship between schools is not in the best interest for ensuring availability of the best education for all.
13. What is your position on vouchers? Please explain. Vouchers would reduce funding for public schools that are providing education to all students and adhering to state mandates for public education. Providing vouchers for private schools using public funds is disadvantageous to the public schools, where the private schools are not required to adhere to the same educational standards or accept all students. In time, this will lead to fewer viable options for parents and their children, as it reduces funding to public schools, decreases the quality of amenities and instructions public schools can provide.
I have seen the same in India, where most children in urban areas go to private schools, and parents pay a significant amount in school fees while public schools are badly maintained and severely underfunded.
14. What is the most important role of the superintendent? Superintendent is like a CEO of the district administration, with the job including overseeing all other aspects of the district administration. Superintendent controls all other district employees, and ensures administration of the policies, programs and budget adopted and approved by the board of trustees. To that effect, the more important role of the superintendent is to ensure effective and efficient district administration that ensures best educational outcomes for all our students. This includes overseeing district administration itself, as well as, administration at all the district schools; and administering of programs offered by the district.
The board of trustees has the job of overseeing the hiring of the superintendent and providing feedback on the running of the district in the annual performance evaluation of the superintendent.
15. Are you educating or did you educate your child in public school, private school or homeschool? My daughter has been at CFBISD public school since kindergarten. My 4 year old will be going to public school when he’s ready for kindergarten.
16. What security measures do you support to keep students and teachers safe from attacks by other students? Keeping students and teachers safe starts much before an actual incident. Having engaged counselors that actively talk with students so they feel they’re being talked to and cared for. An engaged community of parents, students, teachers and school staff is the first step to preventing incidents. The school buildings need to be enhanced to enhance the safety of students and teachers. Many of the school buildings in CFBISD are older buildings and will need to be updated to support newer security measures.
