No response received.
No response received.
No response received.
No response received.
No response received.
At one time I owned three successful businesses, currently own two, and manage all day to day ops. Also have been a youth leader at our church for 18 years, so kids are one thing I know and love.
I approved a full top down audit of our pay scales to fix pay discrepancies LHISD has compared to other ISDs. I was instrumental in brining the Teacher Incentive Allotment to LHISD which opens the door to state money for high achieving teachers. As of 2026 LHISD has been approved and will begin receiving these funds for teachers. This will dramatically improve our ability to hire and retain.
Great teachers lead to better student outcomes. So that’s step one. Next we will continue to work along side the superintendent to set goals that are measurable to achieve the high standard of exemplary education LHISD expects. We already surpass the region and state averages in almost every category. Building on our current performance to get even better would be my goal.
We need to bolster our Human Resources department to make sure all our employees are receiving proper screenings. The public thinks admin is overstaffed, but LHISD actually is less top heavy than comparable ISDs. What the public doesn’t see is admin jobs are immensely crucial to the safety and security of the district and the educational opportunities our kids have.
LHISD just went through this we made the right call as a district. You absolutely can’t cut teachers when times gets tough. We started with consolidating, eliminating, or not filling admin positions. Next, came any discretionary spending and then last was support staff. This allowed us to weather a budget shortfall after the state pulled back funding. Also increasing fund balance is priority.
I have built a successful career analyzing complex challenges, communicating viable solutions, building consensus, and maintaining vital relationships. I seek to do the same on the LHISD school board.
I would like to take a detailed look at the budget and develop a plan for getting teacher pay within LHISD to the top quartile (75th percentile) both regionally and statewide over time. After the VATRE's passage last November, I also would like to restore the previously cut teacher positions and adopt a calendar that affords teachers adequate time for conferences, lesson planning, and PD.
Priority #1 for optimizing student outcomes is attracting and retaining top teachers as mentioned above. Certain improvements need to be made for students with special needs and disabilities. One example is LHISD should offer the ADOS assessment as other area districts do. Ensuring class sizes remain manageable and ensuring teachers receive ongoing professional development are also vital.
Ensure continuous compliance with TEC Chapter 22, Subchapter C including conducting fingerprint-based national criminal background checks via TEA's ECOS. In addition, utilize additional School Safety Allotment funds to implement additional safety measures via improved infrastructure and additional SROs. Ensure principals, teachers and staff receive regular safety training as part of ongoing PD.
While every effort should be made to ensure every dollar is used as efficiently as possible, continued pressure should be levied upon the state legislature to increase the basic allotment. It has increased less than 1% since 2019 while cumulative inflation since then is more than 20%. Our community did its part in passing the VATRE last year. Austin must now do its duty and fund public schools.
