Attorney Wes Johnson, a candidate for place 4 on the Garland ISD board of trustees has three children and two are GISD students.
He is concerned that there are 22 kids in his kindergartener’s class which he feels is too many.
“It goes to priorities,” Johnson said. “I see that we are spending $30 million on a natatorium when there are so many kids per class and that is a problem to me.”
He added that their teachers are great and do an amazing job but they should be given more support.
“We’ve been on a hiring spree in administration and I think we could trim the budget and I don’t believe anyone needs to be laid off to accomplish that,” Johnson said. “The district is built out so there’s no reason why the administration needs to be expanding.”
He said that transparency is a problem in GISD and if elected he will work to improve it.
“I called to find out who was running for the board of trustees the day before the filing deadline. People had been able to register and put their name on the ballot for about two weeks at this point,” he said. “So I called the GISD election clerk and asked for the list…I was told that I would have to fill out a public information request and I’d get the list in 10-14 days. I was stunned. It just goes to show there isn’t a commitment to transparency. They don’t want the public to know.”
Johnson said that he will consider every action of the administration with two questions: Is this good for our kids and is it fair to our taxpayers.
“If not, I’m going to speak out against it. Too often it is a go along get along group at that horseshoe…I’m a litigator. That’s what I do for a living,” Johnson said. “I’m not saying I’m against the administration and I’m not against Bob Morrison, but he is going to have to answer questions about projects he wants to do, about money he wants to spend.”
Votes do not always have to be unanimous and each person should vote his/her conscience.
“You’re not there to make things look good or to put up a unified front,” Johnson said. “I’m going to vote the way I feel and according to those two questions I mentioned earlier – Is this good for our kids and is it fair to our taxpayers.”
Johnson is disturbed by the increased cost of the natatorium.
“This is a vanity project,” he said. “This is $30 million on a $4 million piece of land. Before any dirt is turned, the district is in this for $34 million and we know there will be other costs. We could build six new elementary schools for the cost of this natatorium.”
The morale problem among staff is also a concern but Johnson acknowledged that there is always stress in the staff when a new superintendent is hired.
“But that being said, there are too many people from Mansfield that have come over here,” Johnson said. “This is Garland ISD and it was run by and large fairly well for years before the superintendent was here…It was fine to hire a couple of people from Mansfield, but there are too many of them. That has created a lot of resentment.”
The biggest asset is the teachers, who are exceptional. Another valuable asset is the innovative bilingual program.
“Vial, a magnet school in South Garland, is a classical program and a dual language school with 50 percent English speakers and 50 percent Spanish speakers in the same classroom,” Johnson said. “English speaking students teach English to the Spanish speaking students and the Spanish speaking students teach Spanish to the English speaking students. All become fluent in both.”
He feels that the Montessori programs and magnet programs are also valuable assets, along with the vocational programs.
“Traditionally kids have been told that they have to go to college,” he said. “I do not believe that college is right for everyone so I support all kinds of vocational training.”
Johnson said that if he is elected, he will be there to advocate for the children. There has to be someone to provide the necessary functions of oversight and accountability – oversight of what’s going on with administration and accountability for the vendors and contractors. I don’t feel that is happening right now. That is something that I’m running to provide.”