Q&A
1. What qualifies you to be a school board member
more than other candidates?
I believe leadership experience with results makes me the
most qualified candidate for Frisco ISD Place 4.
Since moving to Frisco 8 years ago, I have been appointed
by Frisco City Council to the Frisco Housing Authority
Board as well as the Workforce Housing Committee. I
was elected to top leadership positions on both of these
boards. In addition, I have been asked to serve on
the boards of several non-profits organizations and I was
selected to participate in Leadership Frisco. My
volunteer activities keep me in close contact with children
and their families. For the past two years I have
served as the head coach of a Frisco Football League Cheer
Team. I currently serve as the Preschool Team Leader
of Grace Community Church where I coordinate 20 to 30
preschool teachers each week and have helped create a new
preschool program for special needs children.
Through each of these leadership positions I have had the
opportunity to work alongside other board members in
setting strategy, creating action plans and producing real
results that have changed our community for the
better. These have included everything from resolving
federal audit findings and bringing organizations into
compliance to working with the City Council and staff to
create a Housing Trust Fund that currently assists
workforce eligible Frisco ISD employees with the purchase
of their first home.
2. What would you say is the biggest threat Frisco
ISD faces?
I believe the greatest vulnerability that we face is
assuring the district remains both financially and
academically strong amidst the uncertainty of changing
regulations at the state level. From a financial
standpoint, as the state continues to make adjustments to
school finance rules, there is the unknown of how much
Frisco ISD will have to refund in tax dollars to the state
each year. This next year alone, the amount that will be
repaid to the state will be significantly higher than the
last. As a school district, we need to look at investment
opportunities that might better protect us from
unpredictable changes in state school finance laws.
With regards to academic strength, as the state continues
to change the formulas and definitions for schools that are
considered “recognized” or “exemplary,” we need to make
sure we have tools in place to assure that our students who
have challenges with the TAKS tests have the tools they
need to succeed. The new district-wide training initiative
which staff is currently working on can go a long way to
support this, but we must also expand our base of
experienced teachers and teachers with advanced degrees so
that we have additional experience to help creatively
address learning challenges of all Frisco ISD students.
3. Frisco is one of the fastest growing cities in
the country. How would you ensure that all Frisco ISD
students receive a quality education as the school
populations grow and more schools are added?
In order to achieve this it is important that we have a
district-wide staff development process and curriculum that
assures that all teachers and administrators are on equal
footing from school to school within the district. Since we
are adding several thousand new students each year to
Frisco ISD and hundreds of new teachers, student mobility
and staff training are both big factors to consider as
well. Teachers need the tools to help them teach children
who come in from other school districts that may not have
the same level of educational excellence as Frisco ISD
without holding back students who are already meeting these
standards. New teachers need development training and
teaching tools and plans that will equip teachers with the
ability to teach TAKS concepts in a variety of ways. These
resources will raise the likelihood of more students
reaching a higher TAKS level with the ultimate goal of
obtaining Exemplary status for the entire district.
4. How important is it to you that Frisco ISD
teachers are paid at levels at or above levels in nearby
districts? Why do you feel this way?
Teacher retention and quality of life is very important to
me. I believe part of this includes paying teachers at
levels that are at least comparable with immediately
surrounding school districts. I also believe that
compensation should not just focus teacher salaries. I
would be interested in looking at other benefits and
development programs that Frisco ISD could provide to staff
that would encourage them to spend many years working for
Frisco ISD and feel they have growth and development
opportunities by doing so.
5. What is the number one change you would like to
make to Frisco ISD?
I would like Frisco ISD to focus on providing expanded
educational opportunities. This includes the introduction
of non-traditional learning methods, college credit for
advanced and independent study, the expanded use of
technology resources inside and outside the classroom,
supplementary teaching tools for parents, and PE credit for
off-campus activities such as select sports and dance.