2 0 2 2 L O C A L V O T E R G U I D E
COMPILED BY ASIA ARMOUR
Katy ISD board of trustees, Position 2
Occupation: building material sales Experience: personal, professional and on the job www.redmon forkaty.com LANCE REDMON
Occupation: mom, educator Experience: psychology degree, more than 15 years of teaching expe- rience, active in PTA https://patty 4kisd.web ow.io PATRICIA HAGGARD
Occupation: educator Experience: more than 25 years of education experience, active volunteer PTA mom www.cicelytaylor 4katyisd.org CICELY TAYLOR
Occupation: IT manager Experience: more than 20 years in corporate nance www.anderson 4katy.com BONNIE ANDERSON
As a Katy ISD board member, how would you approach students a ected by learning loss?
Tutoring, summer school, and extra help at home are just the beginning. ... It’s further complicated by what is going on around the nation with the teacher shortage. The federal government has said, “we will just throwmon- ey at it!” But what if the people are not there to hire? ... Wemust focus on removing the “extra” things that our teachers have on their plates, so they can focus on teaching.
While no single “catch-up” plan will be right for all students, learning loss has been a conse- quence of COVID[-19], especially for themost vulnerable—kids with disabilities, kids living in poverty, kids who didn’t have access to a computer or internet. ... Tutoring, combined with after-school programs, increases student learning. Wemust have quali ed people willing to tutor after school. An “enrollment projection” could be a critical tool in helping plan for growth. Using historical data, it would be essential for growth planning ... [for] student headcount and classroom counts, teacher hiring, construction, facilities usage, etc. These projections should account for housingmarket uctuations, births in the district, real estate ... projects andmigration patterns.
Our students have experienced up to two possible years of learning loss and require additional support. This helpmay come from high-intensity tutoring, where assessments identify missing learning skills, focus on the most critical and build from there. [Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief]-re- lated funds should be used speci cally to ad- dress learning loss through various platforms.
We address learning loss by addressing teach- er pay. We are in a teacher shortage crisis. There are classrooms all over the district with more than 28 students, one teacher or none in some situations. ... The board, with duciary responsibility, must demand increased teacher pay so we can stop the teacher loss and start to rehire some good talent.
How do you think the district should plan on managing growth?
Katy ISD plans for the future but is aware of how overbuilding can a ect our schools and future. Wemust create the space and oppor- tunity for our kids when it is needed, but not before. For example, our current tax rate could have supported a larger bond this past year, but we limited it to what we needed and could realistically build in the next few years. We must be good stewards of our resources.
Katy ISD is a constantly growing school district. As growth is forecasted and ve-, 10- [and] 15-year growth plans are created, short-termmitigation plans should be made as new campuses are built out. This will ensure a plan for overcrowded classrooms and sta ng shortages.
Growth in the district is actually slowing as we reach full build-out and as we see masses of parents unenrolling their students from our schools. The district needs to be discussing how to manage student attrition, rather than growth for now. When growth becomes an issue once again ... then we follow ... process for [attendance boundary modi cations] and student distribution.
How can we best prepare our students for life after public school?
Personally, I feel like the two biggest things that preparedme for life were challenge and responsibility. I was challenged inmy classes, at church and on the football eld. I was not always successful, but I always got back up and tried again. Challenge taught me to never quit. I have also seen how responsibility causes people to grow throughout my life.
All students deserve equal and equitable access to a great public education that instills a love of learning and prepares them academi- cally and socially for the future. ... While high standards and rigorous curricula are essential to this, the focus on standardized tests ... devi- ates from the idea of a complete education.
I believe a balance of o erings that support multiple pathways is critical. College counseling, [career and technical education] courses, and exposure to military academies should all be options shared with high school students. ... All of our students should leave with nancial literacy and the ability to think, write and communicate e ectively.
O ering a good quality education of core [science, technology, engineering andmath], reading and writing courses is the best way to prepare students for life after school. ... Katy ISD has been reducing standards on learning the basics while incorporating radical agenda items like common core, social justice initia- tives, diversity and inclusion requirements.
Answers may have been edited for length, style and clarity. Read full Q&A’s at communityimpact.com .
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KATY EDITION • APRIL 2022
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