Hutto ISD has two board of trustee positions expiring this year. The top two vote tallies from six candidates will become elected to the board. Incumbent Kelly Farmer will not run for re-election. Incumbent and Board President Connie Gooding will seek re-election. Joining Gooding are Matthew Brading, Scott Feller, Andrea C. Linson, Caleb L. Steed and Veronica M. Strong. Gooding, Linson and Steed responded to a questionnaire from Community Impact Newspaper. Their answers are published with limited editing. 1. Experience GOODING: Community volunteer: Hutto Community Food Pantry volunteer for 5 years and current Board of Directors; HISD Board of Trustees for six years, currently president; Hutto Has Heart  scholarship committee; Hutto Women’s Alliance Scholarship co-chair; Hutto Planning and Zoning Commission 1 year; HISD mentor for two years; retired secondary teacher with lifetime teaching certificate. LINSON: My experience has been gained in the school of life. I am the second oldest of seven siblings. Since I've been old enough to listen I've been told that I am responsible for the younger ones. Since becoming an adult I've reached back several times to help move my family to the next level. I am a facilitator for my family, especially for the benefit of the children in the family. Now I want to be a facilitator for the students, staff of Hutto ISD. As I've facilitated my family in finding resources to help them move to the next level, I seek to do the same for our school district. STEED: I am the only candidate with experience in higher education in both the public and private sectors. I have over seven years higher education administration experience and am prepared to use that knowledge to aid Hutto ISD in achieving its future goals in a feasible and fiscally responsible manner. One of the goals in becoming a district of innovation is to improve college and career options for students. This goal is a massive undertaking with the ever-changing culture of higher education. I believe that I am the best candidate to help bring this goal into reality and have done so in my professional role by helping to craft and support new CTE dual credit pathways to make our students better prepared for the future. 2. What are the major issues you see facing the Hutto ISD and what are the solutions? LINSON: Two of the major issues:   Accountability. In the recent A-F school district ratings, Hutto received a "D" in post-secondary readiness. However, to be fair, the ratings system does not take into account a lot of the positive improvements in the District (i.e. AP Honor Roll recognition).* Bridging the socioeconomic divide. Hutto ISD has a student body, of which 42 percent are economically disadvantaged. Also, from 2010 to 2016 the demographics of Hutto have changed. Just because a child is poor does not mean their opportunities for a quality education should be limited. I believe an investment in school gardens and free breakfast for all children would help bridge this divide thereby improving our children's post-secondary readiness. School gardening can teach skills that can very easily translate into home applications, thereby improving the child's home economics. Also, the social activity creates opportunities for new connections between new acquaintances which can help promote inclusion in other school activities. STEED: Hutto ISD recently became a district of innovation. One of the goals in becoming a district of innovation is to improve college and career options. This goal is a massive undertaking with the ever-changing culture of higher education the school board needs someone with higher education experience. I believe that I am the best candidate to help bring this goal into reality due to my over seven years of experience in both private and state higher education administration positions. I have had the opportunity to work with ISDs across the state to build career pathways for better higher education opportunities for students which better equips them for success. With this new goal it is imperative that Hutto ISD align not only with higher education but also we need to make sure that the education our students are receiving aligns with a future career for the students. I personally have worked with industry across the state to the benefit of student’s being ready for the workforce on day one. My hope is that I can use my experience in order put the district in a position that every graduate from our schools district is college and career ready. GOODING: Hutto is facing a balancing act to meet the needs of a fast growth district and the varied needs of our diverse student body.  As our population increases, the state’s financial contribution decreases, thus placing a greater financial obligation on Hutto residents.  Add to this the fact that the district has evolving needs: those that arise as facilities age, those that are needed to house a growing population, those that provide appropriate educational settings for all career pathways, and those that are needed to ensure our school environments are safe. 3.     How do you balance the rapid growth of the district while increasing academic opportunities for students? STEED: The current Hutto ISD school board has taken some fantastic steps in assuring that the students receive a high quality of education. With the rapid growth I believe the district needs someone with educational knowledge, state budget experience, and understands what the educational expectations from the community and state will be in the future for our town. We need someone with understanding what it means to provide an education of the future and are held to a results based standard. In my professional role I've had to face budget shortfalls and have hand on experience finding alternative revenue streams.  I am confident that I possess those skills and embrace the opportunity to serve this great community. GOODING: The increased number of students leads to an ever growing need to evaluate current programs and course offerings.  All districts should be focused on educating students in a manner that will equip them to better cope with their future realities-whether that means college, the military, or vocational certifications.  These career pathways, irrespective of what the student chooses, should include social skills training.  There are skills such as problem solving that bears importance in everything from financial literacy to writing dissertations.  Every student needs to build stronger communication, individually and collaboratively.  Intellectual curiosity must be developed to create students who become lifelong learners and thereby vital members of our communities. This list of social skills can, and should be, built into the curriculum.  They don’t require additional facilities, or additional funding.  They require planning and implementation.  HISD staff has repeatedly proven that they are capable of doing these things. LINSON: As the district grows, this creates the opportunity to address educational expansion. Providing hands-on vocational classes would make more students post-secondary ready for the job market.