Cedar Park - Leander Edition | October 2022

CANDIDATE Q&A

Get to know candidates running in November’s midterm elections

2022 VOTER GUIDE

COMPILED BY ZACHARIA WASHINGTON

Incumbent

LEANDER ISD BOARD OF TRUSTEES, PLACE 6

Candidates were asked to keep responses under 75 words, answer the questions provided and avoid attacking opponents. Answers may have been edited or cut to adhere to those guidelines, or for style and clarity.

FRANCESCA ROMANS

SHARON BELL

SCOTT REESE

LEANDER ISD BOARD OF TRUSTEES, PLACE 5

Questionnaire not returned by deadline

Occupation: nancial manager Relevant experience: 25+ year career in leadership, training, and change man- agement. Roles include chief technology ocer, managing director, senior vice president, principal consultant, and captain, USMC. www.scottreeseforkids.com

Occupation: freelance paralegal Relevant experience: I am a current LISD parent and volunteer, and spent my career working for Texas public schools in educa- tion law. www.francescaforlisd.com

*CANDIDATE DID NOT ADHERE TO WORD LIMIT. RESPONSES OVER 75 WORDS WERE CUT OFF.

KEVIN LEVERENZ

SHAWN LEEGE

SADE FASHOKUN

Occupation: insurance agency owner Relevant experience: longtime LISD volun- teer in classrooms and on district commit- tees; PTA treasurer and president; current trustee since 2021; BS, MBA, JD degrees; corporate experience; business owner 512-920-2570 | www.sadeforlisd.com

Occupation: business owner of medical corporation Relevant experience: LISD father, attends several LISD board meetings, daughter attends local LISD high school www.shawnforlisd.com

Occupation: college educator Relevant experience: Army veteran, retired police lieutenant, served as an interim police chief in small municipality and a college educator with a Ph.D in criminal justice 737-444-3195 | www.kevinleverenz.com

What are some of the biggest challenges you’ve noticed within Leander ISD, and how would you work to address them?

One of the biggest challenges is outreach. Not every LISD family has email or social media. For those residents without children in school, they miss information altogether (such as bond election information). If we want communities to have accurate infor- mation, we should be providing it. Trustees should be helping to make sure information is getting sent out in a variety of methods so that we can reach everyone.

Questionnaire not returned by deadline

Challenges: Pandemic caused delays in children’s development, growth in controversial ideologies across classrooms and cur- riculum resources, overloaded demands on teachers, declining education outcomes, district has fallen away from prior quality systems. Solutions: Get back to the basics; focus on proven cur- riculum; simplify teacher tasks; re-focus on quality systems that measure activity, progress and outcomes; keep parents involved/ informed; be forthright about money issues; tell citizens and parents the real deal of what’s happening and why.

What are some of the biggest challenges you’ve noticed within Leander ISD, and how would you work to address them?

The board has three tools at its disposal: policy changes, budget management to fund programs, and the ability to hold the superintendent accountable for his competence and willingness to lead the district through change. School safety, academic excellence, bias-free classrooms (without radical ideologies), ac- countability and transparency to the community, and remaining scally responsible are my ve priorities.

Some of the biggest challenges are: a. The [out] of con- trol administration expense within the budget. Solution = third-party audit of nancials. b. The sexually explicit books and materials within our schools. Solution = remove them completely. c. The social-emotional learning (SEL) materials and surveys given to our children. Solution = end SEL. d. The need for more trade classes i.e. shop classes, welding, HVAC, etc. Solution = enhance the trade classes to also be ...*

LISD faces similar challenges of many districts around the state. These challenges are students’ academic gaps due to the pandemic, resignation of teachers attributed to low wages as the cost of living increases and they feel undervalued, community members eager to engage in schools as protocols restricted full engagement and school safety concerns. To address these challenges, I support Proposition B (VATRE), impactful social and emotional programming, legislative advocacy and opportunities for community engagement.

Do you support the upcoming voter-approval tax rate election ballot item (Proposition B)? Why or why not?

Yes, I support the VATRE. Proposition B will decrease our overall tax rate, raise revenue needed to avoid a budget shortfall, and fund the approved teacher and sta raises. I do not want to see overcrowded classrooms, programs cut and teachers let go. Our public school nancing is unfortunately not what it should be from the state, so I appreciate LISD doing what it can to bring in more money for our campuses with VATRE.

Questionnaire not returned by deadline

VATRE is to increase taxes more than legally allowed, which protects taxpayers from rapid tax increases. District leaders didn’t ask for VATRE, they wisely submitted a budget reduction propos- al that also provided partial teacher raises. However, the school board insisted on budget increases without funding, knowing if VATRE fails then teachers get red. This feels more like a threat to me: raise taxes or teachers get red. This was completely avoidable and isn’t right.

If I was on the board, I would not have placed the community in a position to have to deal with this. I would have agreed to the budget cuts oered by the administration along with the smaller raises for the teachers, and then worked to identify further savings to get them the raises they certainly deserve while not further burdening taxpayers. This was irresponsible of the board to only oer the decrease in the ...*

Do I support the VATRE ballot? No, the current school board has shown they are not willing to live within our means, currently. They should not be given more taxpayer money to waste.

I support the VATRE because it is scally responsible for the operational budget of the district and for taxpayers. It raises more funds to retain our educators while lowering the tax rate. As our community experiences high property appraisals, the state has signicantly reduced its contribution, thereby placing a burden on districts and impacting taxpayers. Passage of the VATRE will alle- viate the burden to taxpayers and provide needed funds for LISD.

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CEDAR PARK LEANDER EDITION • OCTOBER 2022