Why are you running for school board?

I am running for Allen ISD Board of Trustees position, Place 3. I retired from teaching at Allen ISD in May 2023, but I want to continue serving my community by ensuring our students receive a premium education. I am passionate about helping our students reach their full academic potential, and I believe that serving on the Board will allow me to do so effectively.

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What are your top three priorities for the district during your term?

 

• School Safety is a top priority for me, and I believe that comprehensive safety measures are necessary to ensure the well-being of our students and faculty. This includes emergency preparedness, infrastructure improvements, and mental health support. 

• Given that the State is providing less funding, I will strive to ensure that our financial management is responsible and that resources are allocated to optimally benefit our teachers and students. 

• Teacher retention and recruitment are critical for our schools, and we must continue to find innovative ways to attract and keep first-class educators.

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How do you identify and prioritize issues in the district and what is your role in driving solutions?

 

Watching Board meetings and talking with teachers helped me identify and prioritize district issues. If elected, I'll work with Board members and District staff to find solutions that best support Allen students' education.

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Given all the things that come before the board, how can the board stay focused on improving student outcomes?

 

The Board of Trustees should prioritize and focus on the education of all our students. It's crucial to make decisions that benefit students' well-being and future. If we maintain this approach, I'm confident we can enhance our students' academic achievements in the District.  Our focus should always be what’s best for our Allen students.

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How will you address the different needs of all students?

 

As a teacher, I considered it my duty to tailor the curriculum according to my students' needs. This ensured that every student could comprehend the material at their own pace and in their own way. As a member of the Board, I strongly believe it is our responsibility to provide our students and teachers with the resources they need to address each student's unique needs.  

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Why you? What differentiates your leadership and how will that serve students?

 

My goal in Allen has been to contribute to building a stronger community. My extensive involvement in community service over the years has given me a deeper understanding of how our community functions. It is this community experience along with many years of classroom experience, that I firmly believe I can add value to the Board. These experiences have given me a unique perspective on some of the District's challenges.

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What is your position on banning books from school libraries?

I believe that Allen ISD's book policy is working. If there are any issues, our parents are going through the proper channels to address their needs. I don’t see any reason to change the process Allen ISD has at this time.

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What measures do you support to provide a safe environment at schools in the district?

School safety is a top priority. Comprehensive safety measures are necessary to ensure the well-being of our students and faculty. These include emergency preparedness, infrastructure improvements, and mental health support.

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What concerns, if any, do you have about student achievement in the district, and how would you address them?

Allen ISD does a good job addressing the needs of all its students in the classroom. There is always room for improvement. Covid set many of our students back a bit. Through the work in the classroom, academic interventions, and work at home, we’ve seen an increase since that dip. We need to continue with classroom interventions, communicating with parents, and providing our teachers with the necessary resources to continue working towards overall student achievement. 

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What specific actions, other than pay increase, should the board take to recruit and retain good teachers and other employees?

We must be creative in our efforts to keep and attract quality teachers. As the number of students entering college teaching programs declines, hiring and keeping high-quality teachers is becoming more competitive. We need to address teacher and staff salary increases and stay competitive with surrounding districts. Like some other districts, Allen has started a grow your own program to help current staff members dedicated to our students and schools get certified and teach in Allen. We also need to get more involved in Teacher Job Fairs.

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What are the biggest challenges in planning for the district’s future population, and how would you address them?

The most important issues facing Allen ISD are the school district budget and declining student enrollment, which affects the budget. Allen ISD is taking the necessary steps to ensure the least damage to our students and programs in the school district. I support their efforts. As we look at a declining enrollment, the possibility of more campus closings may take place. I support keeping those campuses open and utilizing them as a specialized campus. (Ex. Gifted and Talented Campus, Fine Arts, STEM/STEAM campus, etc.) I’m concerned that the issue of funding and declining student enrollments will start to affect our student programs and personnel. Over 75% of the school budget deals directly with personnel.

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What areas of the district’s budget should be considered for increased or reduced funding?

I would like to see additional funding for college and workforce readiness programs. I want to ensure that our high school students have options for great programs to help develop the skills needed to succeed in the next stage of their lives. Increased funding for teacher and staff salaries is another area where we must stay competitive to retain and recruit high-quality staff.

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What other important issues are facing the school district, and how would you address them?

Keeping parents and community members informed of what’s happening with the school district is very important. We are very lucky to have parental involvement in our schools. I would love to see more involvement from our community members who may no longer have children in the schools. This would be a way to keep those community members involved with our schools and students and see how their taxpayer dollars are working. Allen ISD currently has a program called Silver Eagles that grows each year. I support this program.

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Academic achievement of our students is highly important.  I want to continue to see an increase in our student assessment scores.  We must continue our focus on the needs of all our students, especially our economically disadvantaged students.  We must ensure funding is allocated for student interventions, especially in reading, writing, and math.

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