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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: 23 years
2. Why do you want to be a trustee for the CFBISD? I want to continue to serve CFBISD with governance actions that provide opportunities and academic success to all students within CFBISD.
3. How many CFBISD meetings have you attended or watched online in the last year? As a sitting Board member, I have attended eleven (11) out of eleven (11) regular meetings, six (6) out of seven (7) work study meetings, and three (3) out of three (3) special meetings since March of 2024.
4. What other civic responsibilities have you undertaken?
5. How has current CFBISD leadership influenced your decision to run for CFBISD School Board? I chose to run for re-election because I believe that continuity in governance is important to support the stability, efficiency, and long-term success of CFBISD through institutional knowledge and lessons learned. I also believe that continuity supports long range planning for our student outcomes.
6. What makes you the most qualified candidate in your race and why? I am the most qualified due to my years of experience as an independent thinking and responsible Board member. I believe that my experience surrounding school funding, fiscal policies, and capital improvements will benefit the District through governance actions that I am involved with. I also believe my experience helps support desirable outcomes for all stakeholders such as academic success for all students and effective spending on behalf of our taxpayers.
7. As a school board member, what action, if any, would you take to adequately fund our schools? Public education funding is not determined by local school boards, but is determined by the State. I will continue to advocate with our elected state officials to fully fund public education. I will continue to advocate for fiscal responsibility within CFBISD to ensure that we are effectively spending the funding we currently receive.
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? My responsibility is to respect the action and follow the policy approved by the Board. Our approved Board Operating Procedures dictate that once a decision has been made and action taken by the majority of the Board, all Board members should respect the majority vote, recognizing that it carries the full authority of the Board, and respect that decision.
9. In the development of a school district budget, what goals and objectives would guide your decision making? My goals will continue to be teacher compensation, academic success for all students, and fiscal responsibility. My objectives would be to continue to advocate to lower our tax rate and the efficient and effective use of taxpayer dollars to support opportunities 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? I support spending actions and policies that provide equitable opportunities for all our students. I will continue to support reviews and/or audits of our programs and services in order to evaluate if there are gaps to meeting our obligations to provide a quality education for all students. As an example, the Board is currently reviewing our Collaborative Vision 2030 to confirm that our community developed strategic priorities and goals remain aligned with our overall mission and vision. The intent is to confirm that we have these priorities and goals updated to reflect the desired long-term performance of the District.
11. How important are fine arts and extra-curricular activities such as athletics to an overall education? How should they be funded? I believe all extra-curricular activities play a vital role to the overall education for students. Extra-curricular activities provide opportunities for social connections, working as a team, work ethic, and lessons through success AND failure. These activities provide motivation for students to stay engaged with their school and their academics and sometimes, motivation to stay in school. Fine arts and athletics should be funded appropriately by the school district for items specifically required to participate in the activity.
12. What is your view on charter schools What role should the local school board play in approving charter schools? Overall, I am not in favor of Charter Schools. I do not believe there is any evidence to support that all charter schools provide higher academic success for all children. Additionally, traditional public schools through an Independent School District are governed by an elected board that is accountable to the community. Charter schools have boards that are appointed, thus no stakeholder accountability. Currently, local school boards do not have a role in approving charter schools that operate outside of the local ISD. If CFBISD Board of Trustees is not the governing body for the charter school, then I support not having an approval role.
13. What is your position on vouchers? Please explain. I do not support any sort of voucher program. My objections are around the fact that a voucher program reallocates taxpayer dollars intended for public education into institutions that have no accountability on the spending of those dollars. It is not a fiscally responsible action.
14. What is the most important role of the superintendent? I believe the most important role of the Superintendent is to ensure there are effective programs and systems in place to support the academic success of all students. The Superintendent is accountable to the Board of Trustees to implement the policies and goals adopted by the Board while overseeing the day-to-day operations of the District. This includes being fiscally responsible, within the parameters of the adopted budget, in support of the goals.
15. Are you educating or did you educate your child in public school, private school or homeschool? My son was educated K-12 within CFBISD. He attended Good Elementary, Barbara Bush Middle School, and graduated from Ranchview High School.
16. What security measures do you support to keep students and teachers safe from attacks by other students? Safety of our students and teachers has to be a top priority for the District. I support consistent and equitable consequences for all students that do not meet the expected code of conduct. I support opportunities for our students to engage with counselors or other support services when there is an identified safety or security concern.
