Thursday, March 23, 2023
LocalNewsOnly
Early Voting is April 24, 2023 through May 2, 2023
Election Day is May 6, 2023
LNO contacted all candidates via email, either direct, or through their campaign websites. LNO appreciates those candidates who took the time to thoughtfully respond to the LNO Candidate Questionnaire with questions submitted by LNO readers.
The following candidates either chose not to respond or declined to participate:
- David Stine for GCISD Place 5
- Sergio Harris for GCISD Place 5
- Dianna Sager for GCISD Place 6
- Mark Wollin for GCISD Place 7
- Kimberly Phoenix for GCISD Place 7
The following are responses from A.J. Pontillo for GCISD Place 5, Richard Newton for GCISD Place 6 and Mary Humphrey for GCISD Place 7.
A.J. Pontillo for GCISD Place 5
https://www.ajforgcisd.com/
What is your stance on tax increases?
As a homeowner and member of the community, tax increases should never be the first option when addressing
budgets. Elected officials should work to ensure taxpayer funds are being used efficiently and effectively and make sure there is no fraud, waste and abuse in our programs before ever raising taxes.
Would you consider exempting taxes on anyone over the age of 70?
Strong schools create a desirable community, increasing property values and ultimately increasing property taxes. The State of Texas currently offers a Residence Homestead Exemption, also known as a tax ceiling or tax freeze, for anyone over 65 years old. GCISD is required to follow Texas State Law when setting tax rates.
What is your stance on teaching Critical Race Theory?
I do not believe CRT should be taught, nor used as a guiding principle for curriculum in K-12 school. All subjects should be taught based on facts, without the use of opinions or theories.
What is your stance on teaching transgender material, along with allowing transgenders in sports/bathrooms/locker rooms or spaced deemed private for male/females in cases where they identify as a different gender? Are you opposed to creating a safe space to accommodate transgender students?
I support the recent policy passed by the current board. I am a firm supporter of Title IX. I believe females should have the opportunity to showcase their skills, talents and abilities and treated equally and fairly. I do not believe a safe space is necessary as everyone should treat each other with respect regardless of their differences.
What is your stance on banning age-inappropriate books or creating a parent approval system for these types of books, understanding some are more age mature than others?
Our amazing librarians have been diligently working to be compliant with current Texas Education Agency (TEA) law ensuring only age appropriate books are available for students in the library. I support the parent approval area of the library GCISD has created in Middle and High Schools for books that contain more mature material.
What issues do you see as being the major issues that need to be addressed and why?
We must raise our standard of academic excellence while continuing to become more fiscally responsible. Our students and teachers are our most precious commodity. Our teachers are entrusted with providing our children an amazing education so they can learn, grow and become outstanding members of society. Teachers need to be supported in the classroom. The community needs to come together to focus on what is important, the education of our children.
What is your opinion on block scheduling vs traditional scheduling?
Both scheduling models have pros and cons. The decision to move to 8 periods per day was done at the district level in coordination with our education professionals. I support our administration and educators to make decisions that are in the best interest of our students. A lot of educators feel having students every day will provide them with more opportunity to impact their students education through repetition each and every day. Being with students more often will build trust and respect allowing teachers to have a greater impact on their students.
What is your opinion of a 4-day school week?
As Trustees, we are entrusted with ensuring we provide oversight and governance to ensure our students are being provided the greatest education possible while being good stewards of our tax dollars. I don’t feel a 4-day school week is effective in providing students with the best education possible and is not something GCISD is currently entertaining.
What is your opinion of parents being treated as domestic terrorists?
Parents should not be treated as domestic terrorists. The more parents are involved in their children’s education the more successful the student becomes. I always want parents and community input and involvement. Parents have every right to be involved in their child’s lives at school and at home. The more collaboration the better education we can provide.
What is your opinion of school-choice?
GCISD is an amazing district! I moved back home so my wife and I could raise our family GCISD. If you have a great school district there is no need for school choice. School choice is not needed in our district nor am I worried about school choice destroying GCISD. We have amazing teachers, amazing students and many opportunities providing students with a tailor-made education. Not many districts or charter schools can offer the opportunities GCISD does.
Is there anything, in your view, that can be done regarding Robinhood and your opinion of this being taxation without representation and how it affects GCISD?
As the Texas Legislature continues to discuss ways to enhance educational opportunities in Texas, I hope they discuss limiting or removing Robinhood while finding a better way to support and fund less fortunate districts. The money in our community should stay in our community.
What is GCISD doing right that you would like to continue or refine?
The current board has done a lot to right the ship and has worked to keep our tax rate low while still providing quality education. They have audited programs to ensure our district is running and spending our money efficiently, and they have started to conduct studies and make future predictions on enrollment and staffing needs. They also recently adopted an early reading curriculum in K-5. We must continue to review all programs in GCISD to ensure we are providing the absolute best education to our children while being good stewards of our tax dollars. We need to adopt standardized curriculum across all grade levels and subjects. We also need to do better at ensuring our schools are safe. More must be done to support our teachers and ensure they have a safe environment to teach in and the students have a safe environment to learn.
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Richard Newton for GCISD Place 6 Candidate
https://www.newtonforgcisd.com/
Occupation: Executive/Engineer/Educator
Relevant Experience:
Texas A&M University Electrical Engineering tenured professor for 9 years 
Former Head of Texas A&M High Tech Research and Development Division
Alliance for Higher Education, Former Chairman and Treasurer
Mayor Colleyville, 2016-2022, elected 3 previous times|
Colleyville City Councilman, elected 4 times
Executive for several Fortune 100 companies
Campaign email: richard@NewtonforGCISD.com
Personal Number: mobile 817-247-1642
Website: www.NewtonforGCISD.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RichardNewtonforGCISD LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/richardnewtonphd/
What is your stance on tax increases?
As mayor of Colleyville, I established a formal policy that Colleyville would not increase citizens’ tax bills unless there was a specific priority that needed additional revenue, and if so that priority would be made clear to the public and any new revenue would be used for that priority. Colleyville did not raise tax rates any year I was mayor for the last six years. In fact, we lowered the tax rate enough to offset property value increases for four years in a row which means citizens’ city tax bill did not increase at all. This tax rate is known as the “no new revenue” tax rate. This policy is still in place and Colleyville passed the no new revenue tax rate again this year for the fifth straight year.
My commitment to citizens has always been to get the most value for every dollar spent. My philosophy has not changed, and I will follow the same policy if elected to the school board.
Would you consider exempting taxes on anyone over the age of 70?
Many years ago, as a Colleyville city councilman, I voted to freeze a citizen’s city tax bill when they turned 65. This practice, called the “senior freeze”, is currently in place for GCISD as well. If by “exempting taxes on anyone over 70”, you mean that they would not pay any ad valorem GCISD tax, I cannot say I would support that without doing due diligence on the impact on the school district’s revenue, and determining if a school board even has this authority under the laws of the state.
What is your stance on teaching Critical Race Theory?
I am completely supportive of the new policy the school board passed this year that keeps Critical Race Theory and political ideologies out of our classrooms. This policy is completely consistent with state law and the Texas Education Agency. The simple truth is that the changes are common sense to most people and will drive consistency and less ambiguity for students. As a parent and grandparent, I believe the policy will go a long way to create a more stable, less distracting environment for our students, and enhance the goal of education and achievement.
With that said, students should learn the facts of history, all history. There should be no attempts to bias the facts. Misrepresenting our history divides our students in ways they have no control over. That leads to emotional distress.
What is your stance on teaching transgender material, along with allowing transgenders in sports/bathrooms/locker rooms or spaces deemed private for male/females in cases where they identify as a different gender? Are you opposed to creating a safe space to accommodate transgender students?
These questions are also addressed in the new policy passed by the current board. I agree completely with the new policy. The policy states that multiple occupancy bathrooms or changing facilities shall be designated for use by persons based on their biological sex. Accommodations can and should be made for individuals identifying differently than their biological gender in single use facilities.
What is your stance on banning age-inappropriate books or creating a parent approval system for these types of books, understanding some are more age mature than others?
Age-inappropriate books should not be made available to students without their parents’ consent. GCISD currently places such material in a restricted area that requires students to have parental consent to access them.
What issues do you see as being the major issues that need to be addressed and why?
I expect our school district to be exceptional in all areas of academics and extracurriculars. And in fact, GCISD is exceptional in extracurriculars and in some areas of academics such as Gifted and Talented, Aspire, the vocational programs that are offered, and perhaps iUniversity.
However, when deciding whether or not to run, I reviewed all the STARR and TAKS scores for GCISD. I was surprised to learn that we are not close to being exceptional in some areas. Overall, only 68% of our students met grade level on STARR tests. 32% do not meet grade level. In common language most people call that failing.
Further, I found that 60% of bilingual and English Second Language students do not meet grade level. These numbers are not excellent – they are unacceptable. We must address this.
When looking for causes, I found several things, but I was flabbergasted to learn that GCISD did not have standard curriculum. The current board majority recently put in place a reading curriculum for K-5 and I applaud that, but we must add more curriculum for core courses and grade levels.
Our students must learn to read, write, and do arithmetic in their early grades in order to be successful in later grades.
What is your opinion on block scheduling vs traditional scheduling?
Traditional scheduling and block scheduling both work and have been used extensively. GCISD is moving from modified block scheduling to traditional scheduling to gain efficiency in teacher loading. Students can be successful in both types of scheduling and have been in the past.
What is your opinion on a 4-day school week?
Based on what I know at this time, I am not supportive of a 4-day school week. I can honestly say I have not heard of any discussion of it in GCISD.
What is your opinion of parents being treated as domestic terrorists?
That is unconscionable. Parents have every right to know everything about their children’s school experience. School districts should be completely transparent with all information and should answer all questions parents have truthfully and honestly.
What is your opinion of school-choice?
The current statewide debate on school choice is driven by parent’s concern that their children are being taught values that do not align with their own. The term that is generally used in the political realm is “indoctrination versus education”. Parents are responsible for the upbringing of their children and teaching them the parents’ values. Schools should not undermine that parental right. Current GCISD policy disallows teachers from awarding a grade or course credit for social advocacy. If our teachers and administration live up to the current policy, GCISD parents should not have a desire to move to another school district for this reason. In any case parents do have the right to do what they believe is best for their children.
Is there anything in your view that can be done regarding Robinhood and your opinion of this being taxation without representation and how it affects GCISD?
Yes, unfortunately, the “Robin Hood” funding system in Texas is unbalanced and should be corrected by the state legislature. “Property rich” school districts like GCISD are sending more and more money to the state ($62,000,000 this year) which is creating a surplus that is not coming back to the school districts for education funding. This must be corrected. This is happening because property values in Texas are rising so rapidly, and the state is not adjusting to compensate for this. Also, more and more districts are being labeled “property rich” due to rising property values. As a result, more and more districts are placing pressure on the legislature to fix this, as they should.
Another funding issue I see is that the Federal government at times puts requirements on school districts for accepting funds that go counter to the local community values. This is not right.
What is GCISD doing right that you would like to continue or refine?
GCISD is exceptional in extracurricular activities and areas such as Gifted and Talented, Aspire, the vocational programs that are offered, and perhaps iUniversity. In fact, GCISD is a leader in vocational programs that are being emulated by others. All programs that are currently exceptional should be supported to ensure they remain exceptional.
As a taxpayer, parent, grandparent, and uncle, I expect GCISD to be excellent in all areas and will work toward that end.
E.S. Farrington, GCISD superintendent around 1914, got it exactly right when he said – “Build up the school to the highest standard, to place them second to none in the country.” That should still be our goal.
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Mary Humphrey for GCISD Place 7
www.mary4gcisd.com
What is your stance on tax increases?
I believe that tax increases should be imposed as a last resort. We must continually assess the resources available and ensure that they are all used in ways that most productively impact students.
Would you consider exempting taxes on anyone over the age of 70?
I would consider this – but only after researching its legality and impact on the district budget. Current state tax code only allows a percentage of school taxes be exempted, along with the homestead exemptions already in place.
What is your stance on teaching Critical Race Theory?
The Texas state legislature has banned this concept from being taught in public schools grades K-12; therefore, it is illegal to teach history in our schools through the lens of a Critical Race Theory framework. I believe that racism is a terrible part of our history, with slavery being an abominable institution. However, I do not believe that anyone is inherently racist or otherwise immoral simply based on the color of their skin. I strongly support Dr. Martin Luther King’s tenet that all people should be judged by the content of their character and not by the color of their skin.
What is your stance on teaching transgender material, along with allowing transgenders in sports/bathrooms/locker rooms or spaces deemed private for male/females in cases where they identify as a different gender? Are you opposed to creating a safe space to accommodate transgender students?
GCISD implemented a policy this past year that addresses these issues. I support the policy that people use multi-stall bathrooms and multi-person locker rooms according to the gender identified on their birth certificate and participate on sports teams according to the same. This is for the safety and protection of all.
What is your stance on banning age-inappropriate books or creating a parent approval system for these types of books, understanding some are more age mature than others?
GCISD has implemented a policy, as recommended by the TEA, that provides an appropriate and productive pathway for parents to not only know, but also express concerns regarding the classroom and library resources available to their children. I generally do not support banning books; however, I strongly support insuring that books are appropriate to the age and maturity level of our students, and parents MUST have the opportunity to have a voice in those choices.
What issues do you see as being the major issues that need to be addressed and why?
Funding of our schools continues to be a challenge, though much is determined at the state level. We must continually assess the resources available and ensure that they are used in ways that most productively impact students. Also, teachers are leaving the profession, and I believe that we will have a teacher shortage soon. We must pay our campus staff as best we can, and beyond that, provide them with a safe and supportive environment for teaching our students.
What is your opinion on block scheduling vs traditional scheduling?
As a classroom teacher, I taught with both types of schedules. My three children attended high school with both types of schedules. I have experienced GCISD implementing the block schedule, changing back to a traditional schedule, then changing back again to the block schedule. Now we are likely moving back to the traditional schedule once again. Pros and cons exist with each, but student outcome is not determined by the type of schedule. I taught successfully and my children learned successfully with both types of schedules. We must make the scheduling decision that makes the most sense for our staff, students, and finances at this particular time and get on with the business of educating kids.
What is your opinion of a 4-day school week?
The 4-day school week is an innovative consideration. Before giving it serious consideration in our district, a considerable amount of research and community collaboration would need to happen.
What is your opinion of parents being treated as domestic terrorists?
This is a ridiculous notion. Parents are not domestic terrorists and have every right to participate in their child’s education.
What is your opinion of school-choice?
We should have school choice and parent voice in a democratic society. I believe, to a large degree, parents make a choice regarding schools when they choose where to live, especially if they plan to send their children to public school. My goal as a GCISD trustee will be to create a district that offers excellence in education that is of such high value to our residents that GCISD will be a place they want to choose.
Is there anything in your view that can be done regarding Robinhood and your opinion of this being taxation without representation and how it affects GCISD?
I am opposed to Robinhood. It continues to adversely effect GCISD as we contribute more dollars each year to the state’s broken funding system. We must continue to advocate at the state level for a more reasonable and democratic system for funding public schools.
What is GCISD doing right, that you would like to continue or refine?
I have been part of GCISD for 38 years, and it has been tremendously rewarding to see the growth and development of our communities and school district. We have become a destination for many who move to Texas and northeast Tarrant county. We have been known to offer a first-class public education, both academically and extra-curricularly. I believe our varied offerings at the elementary level along with our outstanding finishes in the Lone Star Cup validate our extra-curricular activities that help develop the whole child. Many of our special academic programs are also outstanding. I would like to do due diligence in assessing our strengths and weaknesses to ensure that all of our student populations have the opportunity to academically perform to the best of their ability.
