Place 4

GEO-2017-04-24-07David Edward Phillips

512-966-2096 www.facebook.com/david-phillips-for-school-board-384499485263989 [email protected]

TOP PRIORITIES

  • Mental and behavioral health—we need to improve our capabilities for effectively dealing with these important and prevalent challenges in our schools.
  • Health and safety—effective districtwide policies, resources and personnel to ensure that our school nurses can adequately deal with student health issues, and campuses can operate safely.
  • Community-based accountability system—we must have an externally valid, but community-relative, grading system by which to identify meaningful opportunities for improvement in our district.

Place 5

 

GEO-2017-04-24-09Jimmy C. Jones Jr.

512-635-5445 [email protected]

TOP PRIORITIES

  • Preparing our GISD students to be critical thinkers and creative problem solvers will enable them to be leaders in a 21st-century workplace.

  • Managing the growth of the GISD community while maintaining high-quality education is critical to our success now and in the future.

  • Allow the needs of GISD students, their parents and the classroom learning space to be the driver of the decisions we make.  

 

GEO-2017-04-24-11*Melanie Dunham

512-924-5906 www.facebook.com/melaniedunhamcampaign [email protected]

TOP PRIORITIES

  • The state’s current model (standardized testing) is not an accurate or effective measurement of student learning. Our efforts to develop a meaningful, comprehensive, community-based accountability system is a huge step forward and one I’m proud to support.
  • Every child deserves the opportunity to be successful irrespective of wealth or location. I’m working with our finance and administration teams to redefine equitable access to fine arts, athletics, and systems critical to student success and healthy communities.
  • Our board is working to form deeper connections to better serve our students, provide another level of transparency in our administration and disseminate factual information to all stakeholders. I consider communication and trust to be critical for public education.

Place 7

GEO-2017-04-24-08*Ben Stewart

512-736-4396 www.facebook.com/benstewartgisdplace7 [email protected]

TOP PRIORITIES

  • We are accountable for educating and improving the character and moral fiber of our children and to the people of our community who foot the bill to do so.

  • An engaged community, parent and student are key to the learning process. My involvement as PTA treasurer and president showed me the benefits of having engaged parents, students and community; as a board member I have and would like to continue to have the ability to get larger groups involved in more district activities.

  • In order to be accountable to our community, our district needs the ability to do what’s best for our kids. State compliance is out of control, and I will work diligently to develop and support any policies that aid in taking control of how we develop our students.

   

GEO-2017-04-24-10Jaquita N. Wilson

www.jaquitawilsoncampaign.com, www.facebook.com/jaquitawilsonforgisd7, www.twitter.com/jaquitaforGISD7

TOP PRIORITIES

  • The discontinuation of the free lunch program—can grant funding be found to replace this meal for those children who most need this kind of assistance in order to do their best each school day?
  • Systemwide implementation of proven, successful programs that support our students and are currently running on only certain campuses.  Why can’t all of our students benefit from these programs?
  • We need increased transparency for parents and the general public on discipline procedures and statistics.
   

GEO-2017-04-24-12Rida Ortego

512-630-1056 www.facebook.com/ridaortegoforschoolboard [email protected]

TOP PRIORITIES

  • Use the flexibility offered by our district of innovation designation to customize instruction to more effectively meet the needs of our diverse student population and to achieve our strategic goals.
  • Build on our successes to ensure that Georgetown ISD schools remain the choice of parents and students in our expansive 180-square-mile school district through diverse learning options, academic excellence and community accountability.
  • Adequately staff classrooms to achieve a real student-to-teacher ratio at the elementary (22:1), middle school (25:1), and high school level that is needed to teach students effectively and to achieve the attributes stated in the GISD Learner Profile.

Chapter 41 Proposition

EXPLANATION

Texas Education Code Chapter 41 requires “property-rich” school districts with a property value equal to or greater than $514,000 in property value per WADA* to share funds with “property-poor” districts, a process known as recapture.

Georgetown ISD’s current property value is $531,231 per WADA* which makes GISD a “property-wealthy” district, even though 44 percent of GISD students are considered economically disadvantaged, according to the district.

State law requires taxpayers to approve a method of recapture when state funding is less than the amount due for recapture.

HOW TO VOTE

Voters will be given the opportunity to vote for GISD to purchase attendance credits from the state with local tax revenues.

A “NO” vote would trigger an irreversible detachment of approximately $1 billion dollars in property values that are used to generate revenue for required bond payments.

A “YES” vote means that taxes paid on local property values will remain in Georgetown. This option simply gives the district permission to pay the state the required recapture amount.

*Incumbent