Former teacher Charles Axe is a candidate for place 2 on the Garland ISD board of trustees. Among the district’s assets, he believes that the staff and the parents are the most valuable.
“I think our parents are more involved than you’ll find in most districts that are similar to us,” he said.
He added that the magnet programs are top notch and the program at Ruth Roach Elementary School where they are doing a wonderful job closing the gap for minorities is incredible. Another asset is the IB program.
Axe also believes that the district’s AVID program is great along with all the vocational programs that are currently offered and those that will be available when the tech center is built.
He is aware of the transparency problems that were documented in last year’s “Dallas Morning News” survey and expressed concern about it.
The candidate is also aware of the morale problem among the staff and he believes that it will, at some point, affect the quality of education.
Six months ago, he asked for an item to be added to a future agenda so that a survey that revealed staff unhappiness could be discussed. That never happened, but a new survey has been done by an outside source which he said shows some improvement but also still reflects problems.
“I believe from my experience that if teachers feel like they are being treated well and are being appreciated, they do a better job,” he said.
He feels that teachers are expected to attend more meetings and carry out more time-consuming tasks that are keeping them from having time with their families.
Morale problems do exist. “I’ve been waiting for this survey to be done…I have concerns. I’m very concerned…This is an issue that I can’t ignore…I don’t know where it’s coming from.”
“That’s one of the reasons I’m running for re-election. I feel like I still have things to do.”
Axe would also like to see improvement in the district’s internal communication.
“For example, I was unaware and I found out that several other board members were unaware that we were under advisement from the Texas Education Agency about our special education program and I remember when Garland used to be the place that people came to see the right way to do things in special education.”
Axe said that not only should the district not be under advisement, but that the board should have known about it.
He added that the problems should be identified right away and corrected.
Also under the heading of communication, he said that the district must make sure that employees at each school know what the principal expects, also that the principal knows what the area director expects and the area director knows what the superintendent expects.
Axe added that the board needs to know what is happening at all times.
The increase in the cost of the natatorium is causing a stir in the community and Axe said that part of the reason for the discrepancy was that they were given inaccurate information regarding the cost, size and other items.
“It’s bad when you count on people to give you information you are using to make decisions and you find out that it is false,” he said. “It was a situation where they didn’t want to tell their taxpayers what they were doing. That was my opinion anyway. They simply told us incorrect information.”
Another reason for the increase is that upgrades were made after the fact that will prevent damage during earthquakes or any kind of movement of the subsurface. A ventilation system to prevent rust and corrosion was also added.
“We have been assured that the overall bond package is easily within the parameters that we set,” Axe said.
“Education has been my life. I taught for 30 years. I have always believed that it is not only right, but it is smart business to keep your employees happy,” Axe said. “School should be a happy place.”