Questionnaires were sent to each Garland ISD board of trustees’ candidate. Questions, along with the candidates’ answers, are below. Answers are as they were submitted with no edits. Early voting is April 24 – May 2. Election Day is May 6.
Daphne Stanley – candidate – Place 4 (incumbent)
- Why do you want to serve on the Garland ISD board of trustees?
As the current Place 4 Trustee I feel that while serving on the Board for the past 23 months I have made a positive impact for our students, parents, and teachers. Our nontraditional learners have been a big focus for me as well as closing the learning gap during the Covid shutdown that moved much of our programs to online learning. I believe we have made positive steps towards closing those gaps created by the pandemic shutdown. I will continue to work to bring our citizens’ concerns to the board. I want parents and taxpayers to know what the Board can affect and what needs to be addressed by our State and Federal representatives as it pertains to funding, curriculum, and disciplinary decisions. I am proud that I have been endorsed by the Garland Education Association. I want to continue to work with the Council of PTA in our efforts to bring our Special Education and Special Need parents together in creating a parent support group (SAGE).
I have consistently brought a different perspective of the real-life struggles for nontraditional learners. Throughout my professional and personal life, I have been successful in bringing people together to help strengthen organizations and communities. I am not afraid to ask hard questions, to dig in and ask for other perspectives so that I am looking at a bigger picture than if I use just my own knowledge and/or experience. We need to continue to look forward to facing our challenges and not falling back on how things have always been done.
- Summarize your past experience that qualifies you for this position.
Academically, I am not your average school board person. I started as a customer service rep and through hard work and self-learning I rose quickly to become a Systems Analyst that implemented a $750,000 ERP system for an Aerospace Manufacturer. I have spent the last 17 years managing Store/Warehouse Inventory for Fortune 1000 Companies.
I am also a mother and a grandmother. I have been through the trials and tribulations of working with public, private and charter schools in California, Idaho and here in Texas for one of my sons and my granddaughter to get the lesson plans necessary for them to be successful in school and life after school.
Successfully held Board positions, most currently I serve on the Garland Symphony Board of Directors as Secretary and past President. I have served on the Garland Parks and Recreation Board for 1 year. I am an active member of the Garland Noon Exchange and a founding member of The Garland Parks Foundation.
I have spent the past 21 months bringing awareness of our special needs community, our mental health challenges facing our students and families. The pandemic has helped to bring to light the many challenges that these communities have and will continue to face.
- Please briefly share your opinion on the three parts of the proposed bond and why the bond is important.
Our basic infrastructure is not in a healthy place. The average age of our 72 Campus’ is 44 years old. Many of our campuses should have been replaced 20+ years ago but we built the Special events center and natatorium over campuses. While I may not necessarily be a fan of Bond Elections, I am supportive of Proposition A as we have for too long focused on to many other programs and have let our schools continue to age well past any real useful life. Proposition A is pivotal in addressing these infrastructure needs. I also feel that we must elevate the working conditions for our teachers and staff in our schools.
Proposition B addresses the deficits when looking at what our surrounding districts are offering students. With open enrollment in all our surrounding districts we at GISD must compete with other districts that have invested in these types of facilities.
Proposition C, we have brought technology into the district. As long as our TEA and our legislators move everything digitally, we must have the tools to succeed.
- Do you feel that GISD offers enough programs for special needs children? If not, how would you begin changing that?
We offer enough programs. What we are short on are actual trained aides and paraprofessionals to help teachers in the classrooms. What we need to make big changes to is our special education diagnostic testing protocol. We must identify and provide additional learning that children with dyslexia, ADHD, Autism, and many other learning challenges need. When a child must wait until the 2nd or 3rd grade to get through all the testing scenarios that State and Federal legislators have created, they have a much harder time getting caught up. Nontraditional learners need smaller class sizes with teacher aides in their classrooms. These changes will need to be made at the State and Federal levels by working with these individuals.
- What do you feel are GISD’s biggest assets and how can they be better used?
Our teachers, paraprofessionals and our countless support staff are our greatest assets. We need to do better by them by providing new campuses that give them the tools necessary to be more successful as well as adding more paraprofessionals to assist our great teachers so they can better serve each student’s needs. Our choice of schools and how we have brought dual credit courses into all our High Schools. As we expand our partnership with Dallas College with our high schoolers attending classes on their campuses, we continue to setup our college bound students for success. I would be remiss if I did not also bring up our PTECH and CTE programs. The staff at the GRCTC center are continuing to build relationships with the industries within the Tri-Cities to strengthen the apprentice and intern opportunities that again make our students more likely to leave us and be successful in their chosen careers.
- What are the district’s biggest liabilities and how would you help solve them?
Our biggest liability I believe is our aging infrastructure. We have almost waited too long to replace many of our campuses as we have only put band aids on them, and we are now faced with little choice but to tear down and rebuild. I want to see the 4 new elementary schools built so we can eliminate 8 outdated costly facilities. I am pushing for a 10- 15-year strategic plan that will rebuild additional elementary schools as well as our middle schools and high schools. We must keep in mind that we currently have 72 campuses that need to be re invisioned. By creating the long-range plan, it will allow our communities to be partners in this process.
- Students nationwide continue to be behind because of the COVID-19 pandemic. What are your ideas on getting them back on track.
Although GISD has seen an improvement of students’ scores compared to pre-pandemic we still have significant learning loss in mathematics and sciences. We as a board continue to monitor academic progress. We approved hiring 50 additional staff members to allow our teacher dedicated prep time for creating and fine-tuning lesson plans. Staff share with campus leaders on a regular basis data that assists in highlighting areas of weakness and then using our experienced teachers and coaches they mentor our less experienced teachers. This continues to show a steady improvement with closing the learning loss gap.
Jed Reed – candidate – Place 4
Why do you want to serve on the Garland ISD Board of Trustees?
To bring 40+ years of public-school experience as a teacher, campus leader and central office administrator to the GISD Board along with a pervious 4.5 years of GISD Board service. These experiences will help provide input at a critical time of declining student population; lagging student performance; issues of infrastructure revitalization whether the 2023 Bond passes or not; and, attention to a budget process that must focus on needs in a time of growing unfunded mandates from the state.
Summarize your past experience that qualifies you for this position.
18 years as a classroom teacher in GISD
15 years as a teacher, campus leader and central office HR Director in the Lewisville ISD while maintaining my residence in the GISD.
HR Administrator for 9 years for the GISD before retiring to assume my elected position on the GISD Board of Trustees (2016-2020)
Served as Vice President of the Board for two years and President of the Board for one year.
Was involved in the selection and hiring of our current Superintendent.
Was involved in the re-engagement of the Board in the oversight of the 2014 bond issue beginning in 2016 that allowed the bond to ultimately be successfully implemented.
Lead the efforts to design and implement a new Superintendent evaluation model based upon Board approved student performance expectations. These goals have not been updated for the post COVID period and this would be one of my focuses.
As an Educational Human Resources professional I understand and have the contacts that will support the GISD HR department in pushing forward with innovative recruitment/retention and compensation-based strategies. Education for our students has been greatly impacted by the post COVID employment atmosphere in education not only for professional positions but also for support staff.
During my 4.5 years on the Board I never voted against a compensation package for employees. I tried to amend recommendations to focus on improving support staff and teacher percentage increases with some success.
Please briefly share your opinion on the three parts of the proposed bond and why the bond is important.
I was a member of the 80+ member Citizen’s Bond Committee that crafted the recommendations based upon a 70% vote of the group on the recommendations that were then presented to the Board. As a member, a tax-payer, former Board member and a candidate for Board I support the three propositions that are being presented to the voters.
This bond will start us on the road towards the next 100 years of excellence for the GISD and provide a pathway toward quality structures to meet the educational, safety and co-curricular needs of our students.
Do you feel GISD offers enough programs for special needs children? If not, how would you begin changing that?
The GISD offers a full range of educational services to special needs students of all levels. Before we talk about programing we must address, as a Board and as a district, the need to have all positions filled with fully certified special education teachers. Special Education students were greatly harmed and delayed in their academic progression by the COVID shut downs. Districts across the country and state had difficulty in addressing the educational needs of these students in a digital environment. With the return to face to face instruction the employment crisis has greatly impacted the ability of the district to fill all positions serving our special education students. This needs to be the first area of focus. Next, after addressing the requirement and retention of SPED teachers and staff is the need to address the learning deficiencies that resulted from the shut downs.
When these initial issues have been addressed then we can proceed to the review of programing options that could be expanded or enhanced. Key to this examination would be the preparation of our students for post-graduation college or career training. Garland has had a history of quality programs to prepare our sped students for post-graduation activities. Current efforts that could be expanded are PROJECT SEARCH. Meeting and Catering Services (MAC) and Transition Related Activities for Individual Needs (TRAIN).
Let’s focus on PROJECT SEARCH. This program is an employer-based immersion, on site, educational program that provide work-based training for students with significant disabilities. Through this program the district creates a system of support of cooperation with an employer and the rehabilitation agencies to engage students in meaningful work training. Expansion of this program would be key to provide post-graduation transitional employment.
What do you feel are GISD’s biggest assets and how can they be better used?
The staff of the district and our Tri-City communities that have historically support the district in its efforts. This strong bond is mutually beneficial for it provides the support to the district in its efforts for our students while in turn the district is a key economic force that helps to support the property value and attractiveness of the communities. Working together we have been able to provide our students with a strong base for success in college; career or military service and have been an economic support of the Tri-Cities.
What are the districts biggest liabilities and how would you help solve them?
Declining student performance; parental involvement and accountability; underfunded support from the state for required programs and the recruitment/retention/compensation for our staff are all “liabilities” that must be addressed.
The budgetary side of school operations is a driving force in the success of the overall instruction of the students. Eighty-five + % of the budget is employment costs. Based upon current funding guidelines and the failure of the state to appropriately fund public education the cost of recruiting quality staff, which impacts student performance directly, is becoming more difficult. My experience both in Public School Human Resources and my pervious experience on the board will provide experienced support and input to this area of decision-making.
Student performance is impacted by both a quality teacher in each classroom but also with engaged parents. The district must continue to provide avenues of parent input and engagement in the schools through the expansion of opportunities to communicate and share with parents on “their turf” so that they can be the key support of their students in the success that public education provides. The parents also must be engaged in addressing the actions of their students, while at school, in supporting the schools in the maintenance of a quality learning environment in each classroom. This partnership will present a strong support system for every student as they progress towards graduation. By working in collaboration, through open communications and expectations, the district and our parents can create the “successful” student.
Students nationwide continue to be behind because of the COVID-19 pandemic. What are your ideas on getting them back on track.
Beating the employment nightmare that currently exists for professional and support staff. My HR background is key and would be a contributing factor to the Board in supporting and initiating quality recruitment/retention/compensation efforts. It is one thing to say this is important it is another to have actually worked to create a solution.
An intense focus on grade level reading by 3rd grade and intervention on math instruction throughout the K-12 system.
A strong focus on the transitional grades of 5th to 6th and 8th to 9th so that these students are prepared for the changes in instruction and activities that lead both to middle school and then to high school. As a result of COVID a strong focus needs to be in the middle school period (6th, 7th and 8th) to make sure that foundational understanding and capabilities are established for the credit/graduation driven course work in High School. Successful intervention at middle school to address learning loss/deficits are key to a successful high school student.
Working to improve the communication with state leaders on the need for change in operational effectiveness and financial support to meet the needs of the underserved students in our state. More state support of second language learners and the training of bilingual instructional staff across the state to meet the needs of our students.
James Miller – candidate – Place 5 (incumbent)
- Why do you want to serve on the Garland ISD board of trustees?
I am finishing my 6th year of service as a Trustee and feel that this gives me a distinct advantage. In addition, my entire life has been dedicated to serving our great Garland ISD community. As a graduate I was a highly engaged athlete and immediately returned after college graduation from Texas Tech. I raised a wonderful family in Garland ISD and used my influence as a Bank President to support charities, invest in education, and partner with civic leaders. Serving this community is a calling. 6 years ago I decided to put my time and energy in serving our students, teachers, and community as a Garland ISD Trustee. Little did I know we would encounter a pressing pandemic that would recalibrate education. Our team of trustees, along with our superintendent, forged a great plan- yet, there is much work to be done. I fully understand the task at hand with learning recovery, fiscal transparency and responsibility, and the need for a successful bond program. I am all in and this role isn’t for the faint at heart. It is something that you have to want to do. For me it is easy because of the tangible benefits that ALL kids enjoy from good Board leadership. When I walk the halls and see the amazing things that our GISD students are accomplishing it relieves me of any worries about the future. I have always practiced servant leadership and serving on the school board has been very rewarding. Enabling ALL students to achieve is a blessing and I vow to keep this at the forefront.
- Summarize your past experience that qualifies you for this position.
I am a proud graduate of GISD and one of three straight generations of my family to do so. I have a Bachelor of Business from Texas Tech University and I graduated from the SMU Graduate School of Banking. After playing baseball at Texas Tech I pursued a career in banking and have been a banker for the past 42 years in this community and have served many successful businesses employing thousands of employees in our communities. I have been CEO of two local community banks and am currently East Market President for Veritex Community Bank. My work allows me to make strong community connections and support charitable organizations like the Hope Clinic.
I am a servant leader who loves to meet with people to get things done. I work to build a consensus and will take the time to explore and understand various viewpoints and as a former Board President these qualities brought our Trustee team together during an unexpected pandemic. My belief in empowering others is also evident from my long history of providing leadership for many charities, churches, and community organizations that I have served on in my career. Entities that I have served on include board service for Baylor Hospital of Garland, New Beginning Center of Garland, Chair of Garland Economic Development, Garland Education Foundation, Hope Clinic, YMCA’s, Salvation Army and more. My passion is to serve and we are at a critical point in education. Keeping board continuity will surely allow us to move faster for the sake of our children.
- Please briefly share your opinion on the three parts of the proposed bond and why the bond is important.
I fully support all three propositions of the 2023 Bond Program. Proposition A is the largest of the 3 items on the ballot for the bond and includes Safety Enhancements, Facility Upgrades and Infrastructure improvements. Plans call for 4 new elementary schools and the elimination of portables at all elementary campuses. Every campus will be touched by Proposition A. Proposition B will construct Multi-Program Activity Centers at all high school campuses. These facilities will be used by all students in fine arts, academic and athletic activities. Everything from Band practice to dance team drills will be housed in these facilities. These will be the most used buildings on the campuses and they are very much needed to help our students compete with our neighboring districts. Proposition C will provide upgrades to our technology devices for both students and teachers.
- Do you feel that GISD offers enough programs for special needs children? If not, how would you begin changing that?
Special Ed is an area that the Trustees, along with the Superintendent, have made a commitment to improve. Through a re-design of the program and improved training and staffing GISD is progressing to have one of the best programs in the state.
- What do you feel are GISD’s biggest assets and how can they be better used?
GISD is blessed to be made up of citizens from Garland, Rowlett and Sachse which value community and strive to take care of its youth. The district is strengthened by a team of committed teachers, staff and volunteers which work to educate all kids. GISD has a variety of programs to serve the students and include Fine Arts, Athletics, IB, Magnate, Gifted and Talented, Math Science and Technology Academies, the Gilbreath-Reed Career Technology Center and more.
- What are the districts biggest liabilities and how would you help solve them?
Currently I would have to say that our aging facilities would be our biggest need. The proposed 2023 Bond will be a great start to resolving issues caused by facilities that have outlived their usefulness. The district would be better served with facilities that match up with today’s educational and academic needs.
- Students nationwide continue to be behind because of the COVID-19 pandemic. What are your ideas on getting them back on track.
GISD started the process of “getting the kids back on track” two years ago when we took action to implement our Academic Recovery Plan. Kids suffered the ‘COVID Cliff’ during the Pandemic and the district has quickly put in place recovery plans that have not only stopped the slide but students are now making gains. This needs to be continued and our plans are strong. Teachers and staff work tirelessly to address individual educational plans to ensure that the needs of each child are met. As a Trustee, my job is to challenge the plans brought forth by the professionals and then to give them support after decisions are made.
Kristina Sterling – candidate – Place 5
- Why do you want to serve on the Garland ISD board of trustees?
o I want to serve on the Garland ISD board because I truly believe that my expertise in the field of education will allow me to bring a fresh perspective to the board which will positively impact our kids. I believe that I can help us retain and recruit teachers because I know teachers and I listen to teachers. I believe that I can bring new ideas for how to elevate physical safety, but also mental health support and I want to help Garland ISD become better and better.
- Summarize your experience that qualifies you for this position.
o I was a classroom teacher which means I know the real experience of teachers and the impact that board decisions make on the classroom teacher. I have worked in teacher certification and coaching in a pre and post covid world, which means that I have seen what our kids need and what our teachers need. I understand how their experiences changed firsthand. I have worked with district partnerships, and I understand the financial aspect that districts must consider when they implement programs and go into partnerships. I have a Doctorate and Masters in education.
leadership, I have studied at great lengths how to be an effective leader in education settings and researched what impacts children’s academic and emotional growth. I am a current Garland parent which means I understand on a personal level what kids are going through in school every day.
- Please briefly share your opinion on the three parts of the proposed bond and why the
bond is important.
o My three priorities for the district are retaining and recruiting exceptional teachers, safety and security of our students, teachers, and staff and supporting our marginalized populations.
* Proposition A reinforces the physical safety of our buildings, it will provide playgrounds for all student populations to be able to play, it expands the Career and Technology Center which supports children that have different aspirations and allow us to prepare them for those different career goals. By focusing on improving our facilities and programs we are sending the message that we care about our children and our district. That is what educators want to see in their district of potential employment. It will also garner interest from new teachers because it shows we care about our community.
* Proposition B proposes activity centers. These activity centers say we want to cultivate the talented youth we have in Garland. We want to support their growth year-round, and we want to provide them with facilities that will allow them to grow practice and be safe year-round. This goes hand in hand with supporting our populations, retaining, and recruiting teachers, and safety.
* Proposition C is a technology refresh. The world revolves around technology. If we want to show other teachers that we are a district that will compete and to make new teachers want to come to our district, we must stay up to date on innovation and technology. If we want to prepare our children to go into the world and be successful citizens they must be exposed to innovation and technology. We are preparing the future leaders of our community.
- Do you feel that GISD offers enough programs for special needs children? If not, how would you begin changing that?
o I believe Garland has a competitive special education program. I believe that across all major school districts it is an area where we could focus a little more attention but that is one of the many things that I can bring to the board, ideas for how we can expand our services for our students that are part of our special education programs.
- What do you feel are GISD’s biggest assets and how can they be better used?
o I truly believe the greatest asset Garland has been the awesome educators that you find on our campuses. The way we capitalize on our teachers is providing professional development to make sure they’re staying up to date on best practices. Supporting them with both agency in the classroom as well as mental health support. Listening to them and what they say they need and working together to be solution oriented.
- What are the district’s biggest liabilities and how would you help solve them?
o I think that one of the district’s liabilities is being addressed as part of the bond. We needed to improve our facilities to stay competitive. I believe another area that the district can use support in is recruiting teachers. There are programs in place, but if they’re not effective we need to revisit them to figure out how we can
make them more effective.
- Students nationwide continue to be behind because of the COVID-19 pandemic. What
are your ideas on getting them back on track?
o The first thing we must do to get kids back on track is let our teachers do what they have been trained to do and teach. Second, we need to ask teachers what they see every day as a need. Is it more tutoring programs, is it class sizes, is it more PD? I believe that we have to utilize technology as a support and not as a go-to. We want our students to understand how to integrate technology into their learning, but technology should not be the teacher.