Community Impact has previously conducted Q&As with the candidates for Position 4, Position 5, Position 6 and Position 7 on the CISD board of trustees as well as other candidates on the ballot for Nov. 5.
All 11 candidates for Conroe ISD positions attended the forum and discussed issues such as budgeting, teacher retention, safety, student discipline and other topics.
What they're saying
Among other discussion topics, candidates each responded to a question regarding how they would address the $12 million budget shortfall in CISD. Following are excerpts from the candidates' timed replies.
Position 4
Jamison Gentle: "Initially my plan was to look at alternatives that are being spent currently within the district. ... When it comes down to a realistic budget cut of over $10 million, there’s more than likely going to be some losses of jobs. My approach would be to starting with nonstudent interfacing positions, because we need our teachers.”
Nicole May: "I think ... first, we need to stop spending, and ... we need to put a freeze on hiring any positions. The good news is the legislative session is getting ready to open. ... So legislative priorities around budgeting is fantastic, but we actually have to get to Austin to do the work, so we have to do the footwork, and we have to have a relationship with our local legislators, which I do."
Datren Williams: "We need to ... petition our local politicians to stop holding school funding hostage and fund public schools as they should. Secondly, get folks on the school board with adequate business acumen so they can handle these issues. [The shortfall] is 1.4% of our budget. ... What would you do [if] your house would be 1.4% short on a certain expense? ... You tighten your belts.”
Position 5
Lindsay Dawson: “They received a large tranche of ... COVID relief funds. They were told, it’s a one-time fund, not to hire positions. They went and hired 225 positions at a cost of $16 million, and then the budget deficit is $17 million after that. ... Ninety percent [of the budget] is salaries. ... We’ll definitely be looking on the outskirts to see what we can cut ... but there will be, at the very least, freezes on hiring. We don’t want to directly impact positions that are supporting the classroom.”
Kristin Guardino: “I think one of the most important things is not to increase the tax burden on our citizens. We have to look inward at the budget process and see where you can cut. It may be that certain positions need to be cut. ... I think we're going to have to juggle things around, move money in order to meet the core needs, so that we can focus on academics and focus on a safe environment where children can flourish.”
Josh Webb: “We continue to be pinpointed as having this large deficit because we've overspent. It's every school within the state. ... There's a lot of different topics that we can continue to talk about. Talk about the overspending, but the school's done a phenomenal job. ... There are certain areas that we can trim down on. But as far as the deficit, again, it's 1.4%, so it's minor cutbacks that will not affect those students or teachers, education or employment.”
Position 6
Scott Buzbee: You could analyze and figure out what your outstanding loan values are and look possibly for interest savings just by refinancing some of those. ... That holds true for bonds as well. ... We need to somehow get the message to our legislators in Austin that we don’t need to be held hostage for political gain."
Stacey Chase: "We have to maintain student outcomes, ... protect jobs and we have to use taxpayer money wisely. My goal would be not to increase taxpayer burden. It is not insurmountable. We’re going to have to be a little creative ... but it’s not insurmountable. ... We need to advocate for the state to step up to the plate and fund public education. ... Imagine what we could do if we were fully and fairly funded.”
Melissa Semmler: "Our [teacher] turnover rate was 19.4%, and at 19.4% it’s extremely expensive. ... It comes out to about $10 million that we’re losing with this high turnover rate, when you look at trainings, when you look at having to retain teachers. ... So I do think if we could do better retaining our teachers and supporting them so that they stay, we could save a significant amount of money just there alone."
Position 7
Marianne Horton: "I don't think as a district, we should always just be waiting for Austin. ... I think there are places where we can look that are right in front of us to get money. For example, a couple of years ago, I was looking into the ESSER funds and the percentage that we had spent compared to other districts, and it was significantly less. And that's just one grant example. It was the same theme with the IDEA grants, which are for special education, we hadn't spent nearly the allotment that we could have received."
John Robichau: "This is the first year, I believe in its history, that [CISD] has a budget deficit. So looking at it, yes, there are going to have to be cuts made. You're going to have to look and see where you need to to tie your belt a little bit. But CISD is one of the leanest ISDs in the state. Definitely one of the lowest tax-rated in the area. So what we have to look at is where we don't affect the student or the teacher's outcome."
What's next
Responses to a Q&A from all candidates in Conroe ISD board of trustees race as well as results on Nov. 5 can be found in Community Impact's election coverage. Early voting begins Oct. 21, and Election Day is Nov. 5.
