LISD Place 4 candidates discuss district challenges, expectations

By ASHLEY SAVA
News Editor

On Nov. 8, residents will elect representatives for Places 3, 4 and 5 of the Leander ISD Board of Trustees. All three spots are being challenged.

The Hill Country News asked the following questions to each school board candidate and this week, the Place 4 candidates — incumbent Grace Barber-Jordan and challenger Scott Rowe — are featured.

Last week, the Place 3 candidates — incumbent Pam Waggoner and Chris Remy — answered these questions. Next week, the Place 5 responses between incumbent Russell Bundy and James “Jim” MacKay will appear in the Oct. 19 edition. Each response is in the candidate’s own words.

Place 4 candidates —
Grace Barber-Jordan, incumbent

1. Explain how your background and experience make you a good candidate for school board.

I have fifteen years of experience serving on the Leander ISD Board. My work experience has served to enrich my board service. My first job after college was working for the Texas A&M Board of Regents. I saw how a well functioning board that worked together made the university a better place. My experience working for the Vice Chancellor for State Affairs gave me insight into the political funding process. As a buyer, I learned about state purchasing requirements and contracts. As an English as a Second Language and Adult Basic Education teacher, I learned about the challenges that many of our students face. As a counselor at the elementary level, I learned about the challenges that some of our youngest students must overcome every school day, and as a teacher and counselor at the college level, I work with high school (dual credit) and college students, many on different paths but all working to improve their lives through education.

2. Do you/did you have students in the district? How many, ages and schools they attend(ed).

We have lived in LISD since 1993 and both of our daughters attended LISD schools from Kindergarten through high school. They attended Naumann, Cedar Park Middle and Cedar Park High Schools. In 2016, our youngest graduated and was accepted to Texas A&M where she is attending with her sister. I know that their success is a result of their hard work, taking challenging classes and the dedication of LISD teachers and staff who taught them well.

3. What are the three biggest challenges facing the district today and in the near future? How would you like to see those challenges addressed?

Student success: trying to reach every child and encourage a lifelong love of learning. We have made great progress in the last few years in helping students with many challenges to learning close the gap between themselves and the top performing students. While the gap is smaller in LISD than the average district across the state, we still can do more.

Growth: Maintaining our special Leander ISD culture of focusing on student learning as our district rapidly grows and expands. Our district remains committed to communication with our stakeholders and recently received the Texas Comptroller’s Platinum designation for transparency. We are committed to attracting the best personnel and providing ongoing training. Leander ISD is a destination of choice for families and for teachers.

Funding: As most people are aware, education funding in Texas is highly variable, and mostly shrinking over the last decade. Each year, it is a new challenge to stay within our means and still deliver a quality education for our children.

4. What is your day job or what do you do in real life?
I teach college students and serve as an Adjunct Professor of Student Development for Austin Community College. I also work part-time as a Licensed Professional Counselor.

5. Why should someone consider voting for you over anyone else?

The things I have always cared about most in this district are our children’s education and supporting our teachers so they can deliver the best possible learning experience. Leander is recognized as one of the best districts in the area. I always have and always will work to sustain that level of excellence in our schools.

Scott Rowe, challenger

1. Explain how your background and experience make you a good candidate for school board.

The most important qualification for a candidate is to be vested in the district. We need board members that want to listen and want to be involved with all members of the district. As is explained further in the next question, I’m vested and involved as a parent at every level of education. I am a corporate tax accountant (CPA) and have skills that would lend itself to addressing our financing and spending issues. I served as CFO of a city foundation (in CA) that was assigned city projects by the City Council. My favorite project was providing recreational scholarships to low-income residents so they could participate in community programs. I truly enjoy serving in the community, identifying challenges and working together to find solutions.

2. Do you/did you have students in the district? How many, ages and schools they attend(ed).

My wife and I are proud parents of four children: (1) a son, 8, at Cypress Elementary, (2) a daughter, 12, at Cedar Park Middle School, (3) a daughter, 15, at Cedar Park High School, and (4) a daughter, 18, who graduated from Cedar Park High School last year and is now a freshman in college. Our son plays football and both daughters play soccer (Lonestar Select and JV CPHS, respectively).

3. What are the three biggest challenges facing the district today and in the near future? How would you like to see those challenges addressed?

I have been listening to our residents over the past several weeks. It’s probably fair to say that our single biggest challenge is managing growth. There has been concern with our selection of capital appreciation bonds used to finance this growth. While we have made significant improvements recently (new CFO, new financial advisors, new Superintendent), we will need continued focus and discipline to ensure this financing burden is addressed going forward. I would also add that we need more oversight into our spending policies ensuring every dollar is spent wisely and waste is eliminated. The other two issues center around student performance/preparedness and teacher development. These two issues go somewhat hand in hand. Both of my parents are retired teachers and my wife is a substitute teacher. I know there is nothing more meaningful and rewarding than being able to teach and interact with our young people. We need to make sure our teachers have the resources they need to ensure our students are being prepared for life after high school. And we must expect our teachers do their very best with our precious children. Our district should allocate every resource to ensure our children are prepared for further education or their chosen vocation. To do that, we need to continue to listen to parents, teachers, and administrators who make all of that happen and actually take action and respond to valuable insights to ensure constant improvement.

4. What is your day job or what do you do in real life?

I am the Vice President of Global Corporate Taxes for a multinational cybersecurity company in Austin.

5. Why should someone consider voting for you over anyone else?

First and foremost, residents should consider me because I am vested in this district. My family loves this area and loves our schools–that’s why we moved here. And we owe gratitude to my opponent (and other board members) who has sacrificed a great deal for the benefit of the district. But given that she no longer has children in the district and has served for over 15 years, it’s time for change. I’m going to be involved, ask tough questions and be prepared to do the right thing for our children, parents, teachers and taxpayers. We have a huge reservoir of very smart residents in our district (and beyond) and need to leverage that knowledge. We must create an environment where district members feel heard. I want to be that person for change — I’m ready to listen and ready to serve. https://www.facebook.com/Scott4LISD4/