Leander Independent School District Board of Trustees

Leander Area Republican Women (LeanderARW) has created a list of Republicans running for Leander Independent School District (LISD) Board of Trustees*.

*LeanderARW does not endorse any candidate for public office in contested Republican primaries, runoff elections, and special elections, and/or non-partisan elections when more than one Republican is in the race.
LeanderARW sent a questionnaire to each Republican candidates running for LISD Board of Trustees. LeanderARW focused on four main issues:

1) Candidate Qualifications
2) Academic Performance
3) Parental Rights
4) Financial Responsibility

It is our club's duty to support Republicanism in all elections, even non-partisan elections such as for a school district's Board of Trustees. In the state of Texas, your party affiliation is determined by your Primary Election voting, which means if you voted in the Republican Primaries, you are considered a Republican. Listed below by Place, and then by alphabetical order, are each Republican candidate's responses.

LeanderARW highly recommends that you read the responses below, and do your own additional research to determine who to vote for in November.
The Republican candidates for LISD Board of Trustees are:
Place 1 - Trish Bode, David Doman, and Mike Sanders
Place 2 - Brandi Burkman
Place 5 - Shawn Leege and Kevin Leverenz
Place 6 - Sharon Bell and Scott Reese
Place 7 - Paul Gauthier and Elexis Grimes

Place 1

Trish Bode

Why are you running for LISD, Board of Trustees?
Both my oldest (graduated 2020) and my youngest (freshman) have benefited from their LISD education. These life events have strengthened my resolve on the importance of public education. I connected to my passion – my love of policy and public service in college, but fortunately our students in Leander ISD don’t have to wait until college to connect with their passion and love of learning. I want to continue this work. A bright future for all our students requires intentional focus, a knowledge of the environment, and a focus on the big rocks that need to be moved to clear a path for students. I want to continue focusing on student learning, maximizing teacher and staff support, focusing on school finance, and engaging with our community.

What makes you a qualified candidate for LISD, specifically?
Trustee since 2015 President since 2019 Chair: Legislative Priorities Comm. Member: Safety & Security Comm. President: CTSBA Region 13 Legislative Advocacy Comm.

What potential effects do you see social theory based curriculum and ideologies having on overall student academic performance? If elected, what would be your first step to ensure impact performance? What will be your first steps to improving student academic performance?
Students have been impacted by the unfolding events over the last two years, from social development setbacks to mental health concerns - my focus is on helping students grow and accelerate learning in the midst of such uncertainty. Deeper learning, as well as students feeling safe and secure in the classroom, will aid in maximizing student learning potential. Quality programs and schools of choice with smart expansion are vital for a fast growth district in order to meet the needs of each and every child. Since I have been president we have implemented full day pre-K, early college high school, and a virtual school based on very specific student needs. I am also excited to point out the remarkable growth of New Hope which offers an alternative to traditional learning environments. We have also seen tremendous growth in our CTE certifications from welding to culinary. The district is expanding opportunities for students.

What are your top three priorities to encourage increased transparency and accountability regarding rights of parents?
Since 2015, I have voted for & supported ways to engage with the community and parents, such as numerous board coffee chats and supporting and strengthening our committee process. The district is also undergoing instructional material selection which places an importance on opportunities for community feedback and aligning vetting criteria with the new board adopted policy. A single data point does not define the learning a child is capable of obtaining, so I supported and voted for our district's Community Based Accountability System (CBAS)

Parents/guardians play an important role in their child's education. Language establishing certain expectations and responsibilities for both parents and districts is embedded throughout Leander ISD policies and state statute. It is critical to constantly improve the process of listening to one another. It is critical that we seek common ground and promote a system that respects the voices and parenting styles of our 200 sq mile community.

We must converse, debate, and deliberate. Our entire LISD family benefits when we listen to one another and make decisions that include all voices at the table. I want to keep focusing on getting our community involved in the district and collaborating.

With two important financial propositions on this year’s ballot, how would you effectively make changes to lower homeowner tax bills while keeping student academic performance as a first priority? If Prop A should fail, what is your plan to resolve our financial "recapture" obligation to the State?
What are you doing about tax rate and if prop A fails what is your resolve our recapture. Since 2015 I have voted to lower the tax rate each year but the State’s mechanism for funding the educational system isn’t configured to adequately support public education in Leander ISD & our property taxpayers end up shouldering the burden. We will go through recapture - over $30 million of tax revenue must be sent back to the state. I am working aggressively to address legislative solutions such as raising the basic allotment which would provide raises to teachers and reduce the amount of recapture.

If prop A fails completely then the board no longer has the same opportunity to address recapture and the state will look at statute to determine next steps which could be a detachment of certain properties values or other remedies set forth in statute. It should be noted that no district in the state of Texas has finally failed an ACE election (this is what our prop A is). The closest a district came was Houston ISD and they said…never mind… (my paraphrasing) after they became aware of the drastic steps the state would take.

Optional Additional Response
I do not consider myself a Republican or Democrat candidate but rather an independent that believes in smaller government, sound fiscal responsibility, and that solid public education is vital to our democracy. I believe strongly that the statute which establishes the race as non partisan sets a foundational philosophy for how to approach this position. I will not seek any endorsement from a political party and feel anyone who is elected to this position must represent all children.

Website
www.trishforlisd.com

David Doman

Why are you running for Leander ISD, Board of Trustees?
Leander ISD used to be a fantastic schoolboard, driving excellence in Leander schools. My two children went through LISD schools, from Steiner Ranch Elementary through Cedar Park High School, and both received exceptional educations. However, NOW, Leander schools are not as they used to be. I have a 5 year old grand-daughter. I want to make Leander schools the exceptional schools that they used to be, and not just for my grand-daughter, but for all of our children and grand-children.

What makes you a qualified candidate for Leander ISD, specifically?
I have taught middle school and high school (and college) college levels. Further, I have worked with pre-teens and teenagers, in several religious and civic organizations. I have been active in the State Board of Education. Beyond that, I can demonstrate my ability to organize and run a multimillion dollar organization since I have founded and built a multinational design center, employing over 100 engineers.

What potential effects do you see social theory based curriculum and ideologies having on overall student academic performance? If elected, what would be your first step to ensure impact performance? What will be your first steps to improving student academic performance?
We need a sense and Texas values based curricula, not one based on woke theories and boondoggles. If elected, I will encourage the directors, principals, and teachers to reorient their classroom efforts toward promoting student academic performance against SBOE standards and away from any such boondoggle theories.

What are your top three priorities to encourage increased transparency and accountability regarding rights of parents?
The parents and guardians of the Leander children are the real bosses of the school board. As such, any parent can/should be allowed to speak on any LISD topic, both at the bard, and to any board member. I will always honor this, and I will always listen. Further, I will actively seek feedback on accountability from the ISD parents/guardians. I will promote open feedback on topics, on a regular basis, back to the parents/guardians across the ISD.

With two important financial propositions on this year’s ballot, how would you effectively make changes to lower homeowner tax bills while keeping student academic performance as a first priority? If Prop A should fail, what is your plan to resolve our financial "recapture" obligation to the State?
The state will always "get the funds owed to them". If Prop A fails, we will be forced to accept the decisions by the state.

As for lowering homeowner tax bills, we need to determine the "per student" cost, and how it has risen from before the pandemic to after the pandemic, and in which areas said increases have occurred. Such information is available, but has not been allowed to be published. We must audit the books in order to find such information. The publishing of such will make "where to cut the budget without cutting teacher pay", in order to hold the line on taxes, obvious.

Optional Additional Response
1) Woke topics, such as CRT, deserve no place in LISD curricula;
2) LISD curricula needs to be common sense and Texas values based;
3) The parents/guardians of all of our children are the real bosses of the LISD board;
4) Our teachers deserve a raise;
5) We need to protect our children from dangerous drugs, such as Fentanyl jsut as much as we need to protect them from dangerous physical attacks.

Website
daviddoman.org

Mike Sanders

Why are you running for Leander ISD, Board of Trustees?
Like many school districts around our nation, LISD has changed significantly in the past four years. Pornography is being provided to children in our schools and children are being sexualized in LISD as early as kindergarten. No adult should be talking to other people’s kids about sex acts or asking little boys if they prefer to be little girls. Teachers should not be teaching children the incorrect use of pronouns. We need to return to a focus on academic excellence and stop the social indoctrination in our schools. Here come the Marines! I will not be silent while the innocence of our children is being stolen from them. I will speak up about this at every meeting of our Board of Trustees. I will work relentlessly to remove Socialist/Marxist teaching from our classrooms and to teach children to appreciate the United States of America. I will help replace curriculum with materials that will enable our teachers to focus on academic excellence rather than emotional teaching. I am running for the Board of Trustees to rescue 42,000 children from having their innocence stolen. I believe in parental rights and will restore the ability of volunteer parents (after a background check) to help teachers in their classrooms. Additionally, I will ensure we have a balanced budget every year and I will vote against raising property taxes.

What makes you a qualified candidate for Leander ISD, specifically?
I have attended almost all of the Board meetings for the past year and often watch the incumbent Trustees fail to ask important questions when various matters are presented for a vote. The current Board members think alike and do not appreciate diverse ways of viewing things. As a Christian, I view life through the lens of the Bible and bring that unique perspective to the table. I have the courage to stand up and speak out when children are being mistreated. I will also speak up for educators, for parents, and for taxpayers in our district. I have served as a bi-vocational pastor and have served on many boards and committees through the years. I regularly listen to voices with a variety of perspectives when decisions need to be made. I have been an Electronic Engineer for over 30 years and my job is to create things that never existed before. I will bring unique ideas to the table for solving the issues faced by our school district. I will listen to the concerns of teachers and seek to foster an environment where teachers feel appreciated and want to remain in our school district. We need Trustees with a moral compass and with courage. I will help put a stop to sinking our district deeper and deeper into debt.

What potential effects do you see social theory based curriculum and ideologies having on overall student academic performance? If elected, what would be your first step to ensure impact performance? What will be your first steps to improving student academic performance?
As teachers have spent increased time on social theories and ideologies, they have spent less time on teaching cognitive skills to students. This is one big reason why the academic performance of LISD has been in decline for several years, as teachers have been spending increasing amounts of time on emotional teaching. One of the first things I will do is eliminate the office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI). Teaching kids to judge each other based on the color of their skin is just plain wrong and that needs to stop. Nobody is superior to, or inferior to anyone based on skin color. I will help establish new policies that will change the focus in our classrooms to teaching cognitive skills rather than emotional learning. I believe that elementary school students should not use computers in their classrooms. They need to learn how to read and write with a pencil and paper. The most essential skill for any student is the ability to read. During grades one through three, students learn to read. After that, students read to learn. If a student has not learned to read by grade four, that student will fall farther and farther behind others. This essential skill must have a higher priority in our schools. The choice of curriculum is vital to improving academic performance.

What are your top three priorities to encourage increased transparency and accountability regarding rights of parents?
1) We need to re-institute the policy of allowing volunteer parents into our classrooms after passing a background check. This will provide help to the teachers and it will also increase transparency. Parents will be full partners with educators in the education of their children.

2) We need to establish a policy that parents have a right to know what their children are doing in school and teachers should not hide things about students from their parents. Students should not be taught to look to some “trusted adult” to take the place of their parents. Schools should value the family unit and not seek to undermine parental authority.

3) Parents should have a right to inspect all curriculum being taught to their children. When any child begins failing in a class, teachers should notify the parents so that corrective action can be taken. Additionally, no adult should be talking to someone else’s kids about sex acts of any kind.

With two important financial propositions on this year’s ballot, how would you effectively make changes to lower homeowner tax bills while keeping student academic performance as a first priority? If Prop A should fail, what is your plan to resolve our financial "recapture" obligation to the State?
I challenge the basic assumption that we have a “financial Recapture obligation to the State”. I have submitted Public Information Requests to LISD and to the TEA for any copy of any document that was sent from the TEA indicating that we owe any Recapture payment and how much is owed. We do not magically owe Recapture just because some Board member says so or just because the Superintendent says so.

Section 49.004 of the Texas Education Code says “ANNUAL REVIEW OF LOCAL REVENUES. (a) Not later than July 15 of each year, using the estimates of enrollment and taxable property value under Section 48.269, the commissioner shall review the local revenue level of school districts in the state and shall notify: (1) each district with a local revenue level in excess of entitlement”

If a notification was not received from the TEA prior to July 15, 2022 then we have not had a local revenue level in excess of entitlement and we do not owe Recapture payments in the 2022-23 school year. If a notification was received, then produce it publicly.

Optional Additional Response
My neighbors have elected me to be the Republican Chair for Precinct 264 in Williamson County. I have attended Republican Executive Committee meetings for around four years and have am a lifelong Republican. I have served as a delegate to the Republican Party of Texas State Convention and I have never knowingly voted for any Democrat. I have served as an Elections Judge, helping to ensure fair and honest elections.

Website
www.MikeForLISD.com

Place 2

Brandi Burkman

Why are you running for Leander ISD, Board of Trustees?
I have been speaking out against the sexually explicit book selections, decline in academics, and psychological exams in the form of social emotional learning surveys at school board meetings and the capitol. I want to see the district return to a focus on academic excellence and stop the social justice experiment.

What makes you a qualified candidate for Leander ISD, specifically?
I’m a parent of two high schoolers in the district and now home school my fifth grader. I truly care about what has happened to our educational system, and have spent a couple of years studying school policy, Texas educational code and federal educational code. I’m a strong advocate of parental rights and children’s privacy rights.

What potential effects do you see social theory based curriculum and ideologies having on overall student academic performance? If elected, what would be your first step to ensure impact performance? What will be your first steps to improving student academic performance?
The focus on social justice and critical race ideologies have shifted the district away from academic excellence. Currently, LISD curriculum is entirely district designed instead of accessing core curriculum approved by the State Board of Education. I’ve tried to obtain information on how the district designed curriculum aligns with the TEKS but received a $1400 bill for my PIR. Texas Education Agency studies have shown significant improvements when core curriculum shifts back to SBOE approved curriculum and I would advocate for similar adjustments to be implemented immediately.

What are your top three priorities to encourage increased transparency and accountability regarding rights of parents?
Texas Education Code Chapter 26 makes it clear that parents are partners with the district in the education of their children. The top priority to restoring parental rights is for the district to stop violating the requirements for parental consent outlined in federal education code 20 USC 1232(h). Parents provide name and gender information at registration and asking children if this information is different without going through parents is a clear violation, along with surveys about feelings and attitudes. Parents should also be welcomed on board meetings without the clear bag requirement. This policy change was approved the day before the infamous NSBA letter to the DOJ surfaced comparing parents to domestic terrorists and its long overdue that LISD ends this nonsense. The full three minutes for citizen comments needs to be restored also.

With two important financial propositions on this year’s ballot, how would you effectively make changes to lower homeowner tax bills while keeping student academic performance as a first priority? If Prop A should fail, what is your plan to resolve our financial "recapture" obligation to the State?
The major issues impacting academics are not problems that will be resolved with more money. Salary data from the past five years shows stagnant growth at the schools while other administrative areas show significant increases, such as Pathways and Innovation that has seen a 64% increase and a brand new department Federal and State Programs that includes several positions for Teacher, Parent Educators with job descriptions that indicate they perform home visits for infants to 4 year olds. I want to better understand the areas that are not contributing to academic success and explore impacts of those departments and other non instructional expenses.

Website
www.BrandiforLISD.com

Place 5

Shawn Leege

Did not respond to our questionnaire.

Kevin Leverenz

Why are you running for Leander ISD, Board of Trustees?
I want to help change course with a focus on academic excellence in safe, bias-free schools where parent’s rights are respected. I want to do this in a fiscally-responsible way that places a primary focus on competitive teacher salaries and keep property taxes in check. I want to ensure that leftist ideologies and further indoctrination efforts are kept out of our LISD classrooms. I believe in teaching student how to think, not what to think.

What makes you a qualified candidate for Leander ISD, specifically?
I have more than two decades of public service experience and more than half of that experience is in public sector leadership. I am also a college educator with a PhD in Criminal Justice and I teach management and leadership competencies. I believe that LISD needs a skill set I possess; an understanding of public sector governance, the ability to respond to constituencies with different (often competing) needs and interests, the ability to craft and implement policy, and the ability to help the superintendent lead the district through change. Most importantly, we need someone on the board who understands how to hold the superintendent accountable for his competence and willingness to drive change though the many layers of bureaucracy he leads.

What potential effects do you see social theory based curriculum and ideologies having on overall student academic performance? If elected, what would be your first step to ensure impact performance? What will be your first steps to improving student academic performance?
The social theory based curriculum and ideologies amount to indoctrination and noise that substantially detracts from the quality of education. Students should be taught how to think, not what to think. If elected, my first focus would be to ensure that guiding documents articulate an appropriate vision and measurable goals, then determine if curricula align with TEKS Guidelines. Then, I would focus on policies (EH, and EHAA) to determine if changes are necessary to meet TEKS guidelines.

What are your top three priorities to encourage increased transparency and accountability regarding rights of parents?
1) Develop a single district-wide searchable database portal, much like an electronic card catalog, for all books that can be found in LISD; this database would identify all books in all libraries and classrooms, track how many copies exist, and identify which vendor or teacher is credited with bringing a given book in the district. I would work toward development of an audit process that asks for volunteers to help audit the book collections (to determine the accuracy of the database).

2) Determine the appropriate approach to employ a new practice for open records requests that requires the open records officer to offer electronic copies of requested records without the requestor having to ask (to keep ORR fees to a minimum) and then develop a process that chronicles ORR's and the responsive documents on the LISD website (records specific to ORR's regarding individual students would be exempted from this cataloging process).

3) Increase the time for school board citizen comments to at least three minutes and allow citizens to submit documents to the record as they see fit.

With two important financial propositions on this year’s ballot, how would you effectively make changes to lower homeowner tax bills while keeping student academic performance as a first priority? If Prop A should fail, what is your plan to resolve our financial "recapture" obligation to the State?
Education quality would be prioritized, as would teacher pay. However, I would seek to empanel a committee to closely examine line items in the budget to prioritize line items and then prioritize recurring administrative costs to determine how we can either defund programs that do not fulfill education priorities or that frustrate LISD's capacity to provide for education quality, or review administrative roles to determine which positions can be consolidated (to reduce administrative overhead).

Regarding Prop A, the voters should know that if it fails, LISD loses the ability to tax a block of commercial properties, and then would be required to shoulder the burden for the bond debt through increased property taxes on their homes (this information comes from Texas Public Policy Foundation (TPPF) feedback on Prop A). So, if Prop A fails, I would work to educate voters by widely broadcasting their warnings about the more burdensome nature of options 1, 2, 4, and 5 in 49.002 of the Texas Education Code, and continue with subchapter D of Chapter 49 of the TEC. Then (as Houston ISD did when they went through this problem), I would call for another election and work to get this passed.

Optional Additional Response
This race is about the issues, about ability to competently lead LISD back to a condition where it is providing quality education. This race is just as much about electing board members who can work as a team, with competence and character, with poise and precision. I have a demonstrated record of voting my values and of bringing accountability and transparency (where none existed) to achieve results. I will do the same for LISD to achieve education quality.

Website
www.kevinleverenz.com

Place 6

Sharon Bell

Did not respond to our questionnaire.

Scott Reese

Why are you running for Leander ISD, Board of Trustees?
We watched our son’s teacher, via virtual school, actively teaching/promoting him into queer/trans lifestyles and BLM activism. Addressing this with leadership led to even more discovery of academic decline and controversial ideologies spreading in classrooms. I’m running for school board to ensure every child gets a great education and is protected from controversial indoctrination/CRT, to uphold parent’s rights, support our great teachers, and provide public transparency of all district activities and measures.

What makes you a qualified candidate for Leander ISD, specifically?
In short: I’m a believer in education. I’m passionate about the uplifting effects that public education has on our children and community. As a father of three with over 35 years collectively stewarding my children through public education, I have seen the benefits of dedicated teachers and well-organized instruction – which are sadly at risk under current district leadership. I have bachelor's and master’s degrees with numerous awards and distinctions.

My career and local leadership experience will enable me to quickly become a successful contributor as a Trustee, including 25+ years experience in leadership, change management, and financial strategy. I've served in roles such as Chief Technology Officer, Managing Director, and Senior Vice President, as well as LISD School Site Committee Member and LISD Bond Oversight Committee Member.

I will bring the same commitment and professionalism to the board of Trustees as I demonstrated as a Captain in the Marines. I learned from my career how to identify, understand, and solve the appropriate problems with effective plans and strategies. I learned to work with teams from various backgrounds and levels of experience to accomplish the mission at hand. Now that some of our district education challenges have become so real and clear for me and my family, I feel compelled to apply that experience to the board of Trustees.

What potential effects do you see social theory based curriculum and ideologies having on overall student academic performance? If elected, what would be your first step to ensure impact performance? What will be your first steps to improving student academic performance?
My vision is to improve our children’s measurable outcomes -- academic skills, successful habits, and an understanding of their God-given rights and how to practically stand for them. We do this through measurable goals, transparency, accountability, efficiency gains, system improvements, and a focus on academic standards and outcomes with proven instructional material devoid of radical ideologies such as BLM and CRT.

The radical Left has undermined the basics of education by ignoring individuality and the power of individual choice in favor of arbitrary group "identities" – placing arbitrary social value on these groups in the lens of victim versus oppressor. As one example in today’s classroom, teachers have explained to me that SEL (social-emotional learning) implementation has significantly increased classroom discipline problems, reduced effective response to discipline problems, and ultimately reduced the available teaching time available.

As a Trustee, I will propose and vote to eliminate group identity and social theory based plans and curriculum and instead focus on individual value, individual choice, individual performance, individual support, and individual accountability.

I will further propose and vote for the administration to publish accurate and simple reports on our academic results and comparisons to similar ISDs and regional charter schools. I will propose and vote for the Superintendent's goals to be tied to measurable student outcomes. With a new conservative majority we will immediately review his contract.

What are your top three priorities to encourage increased transparency and accountability regarding rights of parents?
1) Educate parents on their rights and how to work with LISD to support their rights.
  1.a. Publish a Parents Bill of Rights consistent with Texas Statutes and communicate these to all parents via LISD marketing and communications channels.

2) Establish a Parent support resource to help parents with questions about both their rights and how to effectively address specific grievances directly with school staff.
  2.a. Develop a reporting and measurement capacity to report on this area.

3) Use marketing and communications channels to publish top FAQs and answers coming from parents around parents’ rights and to direct parents to the parents bill of rights and support/FAQ resources.

With two important financial propositions on this year’s ballot, how would you effectively make changes to lower homeowner tax bills while keeping student academic performance as a first priority? If Prop A should fail, what is your plan to resolve our financial "recapture" obligation to the State?
Short answer: Recapture (aka. “Robin Hood”) was a mistake by the Texas Legislature. Our state’s public education framework is a complicated, tangled mess that has resulted in shockingly high taxes for property owners. It will take a Trustee with a strong background in finance to begin to immediately untangle it all and keep as much of our tax dollars local as possible. I am that candidate.

Long answer: ISD taxes top assessment notices each year. The district charges more and more, even though valuations and taxpayers continue to increase. Meanwhile, delivery of goals/outcomes has dropped dramatically. Something is desperately wrong there!

So, how do we reduce taxes? It will take a lot of dedication to this goal and a little finesse. I will propose and vote for 1)external efficiency audit; find areas for efficiency gains, 2)external benchmark analysis of our education and curriculum practices against the current higher performing and poorer ISDs, as well as relevant comparative and high performing charter schools. I suspect that we can improve education and find cost reductions.

If Prop A fails, I will propose and vote for expert testimony from TPPF, district, and related state agencies to advise the board and public on the five options for recapture. I will propose/vote to take the best option to the public or superintendent as appropriate.

Optional Additional Response
As a Trustee, I will work within the statutory responsibilities of thel Board Trustees to challenge and hold accountable the Superintendent to improve education outcomes and improve our efficiency with use of tax dollars.

I will specifically challenge the superintendent to lead the administration to implement clear and measurable definitions of success outcomes for students and teachers in the daily classroom, in the completion of each semester by grade, in the completion of each year by grade, in the completion and transition between elementary, middle, and high schools, and in graduates. Objective criteria and measurable standards that are consistent across classrooms and schools within the district will provide consistency and measures by which to identify areas for continuous improvement.

There are many other issues we should address through a combination of board policy and superintendent goal setting and accountability. These include public concerns with obscenity in teaching materials - establish policies objective and transparent criteria for age appropriate evaluation of books and materials, academic outcomes, efficiency of education and appropriate budgets and use of tax dollars, safety/security and drugs/Fentanyl use, classroom discipline and teacher workload, etc.

Website
www.scottreeseforkids.com

Place 7

Paul Gauthier

Did not respond to our questionnaire.

Elexis Grimes

Why are you running for Leander ISD, Board of Trustees?
As a mother of two boys in Leander ISD for the past 15 years, I am passionate and invested in our LISD community. I am committed to being fiscally responsible and advocating for parent involvement in their children's education. I serve on the Safety and Security committee working to ensure we have safe and secure facilities that meet the needs of all students. I will continue to work to empower parents, students, and teachers in striving for academic excellence. I have also worked diligently to honor taxpayer dollars thru my work on the Long-Range Facilities Committee, by preparing a plan to save $500 million in construction costs. I want to continue this valuable work and ask for your vote.

What makes you a qualified candidate for Leander ISD, specifically?
First of all I am a mother of two boys, that has served LISD as a Trustee for the past 4 years. I am also the LISD Board Secretary and serve on these committees: Long Range Facilities Committee Chair, Safety and Security Committee Member, and Legislative Committee Member. Before running for school board I served on committees as a parent including the LISD Financial Leadership 2017-2018, and the Bond Steering Committee 2017.

What potential effects do you see social theory based curriculum and ideologies having on overall student academic performance? If elected, what would be your first step to ensure impact performance? What will be your first steps to improving student academic performance?
As a parent of a Freshman, I understand the concerns our children face in the classroom. I have always fought to focus on each individual learner. I strongly believe in Academic Excellence for every student. Offering programs that engage each and every student helps students to own their learning and be fully invested in their education. Every student has different learning styles and goals, I want us to use highly individualized approach to cater to each specific student’s strengths and needs.

What are your top three priorities to encourage increased transparency and accountability regarding rights of parents?
First I believe parents are the first teachers in their children’s lives. Parents need to be empowered to know what choices and challenges exist for their children and to be able to advocate for them in order to provide an environment where they will succeed.  I strongly believe every parent has the right to make decisions concerning their child’s education. Parents have a right to actively participate in creating and implementing educational programs for their children. Because of their unique position, parents play an important role in creating a positive learning environment for their students. We all know how important it is to have an engaged parent community to our district, however we must do more.  Parents voices are extremely important at all levels of education and are valuable members of the LISD family. I strongly support plans to actively involve parents in critical transition years (ie: 5th Grade to 6th Grade, and 8th to 9th grade).  Parents are powerful partners in the process and can help create a smooth transition for their child. By involving parents in this transition, we can help to enhance a deeper learning experience for our students. The third way is for parents to sign up for district committees and to be actively engaged in the process of developing solutions to make our district better.

With two important financial propositions on this year’s ballot, how would you effectively make changes to lower homeowner tax bills while keeping student academic performance as a first priority? If Prop A should fail, what is your plan to resolve our financial "recapture" obligation to the State?
If Prop A fails the state of Texas can permanently "Detach Territory" from LISD. This could result in a 16 billion in loss of Commercial Property, which LISD does not have which means splitting out homes as well. This places more of the burden back on homeowners and further increases the burden of property taxes. If this fails on the Nov. ballot, I will continue to work with our state representatives for a solution because if an alternative is not found it could lead to higher taxes for homeowners. I have always been a strong advocate for lower taxes, and have always lowered the tax rate.

Website
elexisgrimes.com