DNR

Any and all discussions about district adjustments should be transparent and open to community, taxpayers, parents and students, and all affected.

DNR

Without knowing all the specifics I cannot form a justified option on that past action. I can though provide an opinion on how the process should have play out. District remapping is not a new thing and does happen from time to time. The goal would be to start gathering information from the parents of the regions affected. There may be metrics in there that show a better path. Do we know if most parents want to move over due to proximity? Are they frustrated with multiple tax rates and issues with county lines? Do they prefer to stay with the district where they reside. I’m sure these [...]

DNR

Absolutely the Travis County property owners should not only be notified, but be included in the decision process. The root of this issue is secrets are not good for public trust. Throw it all out on the table and leave it open for discussion. In my experience, informed people can bring unbelievably innovative, cost-effective, pleasing solutions to complex problems. Things done secretly and arbitrarily cause earned distrust and lack of satisfaction. Dripping Springs has too much going for it to settle for lack of communication and transparency.

If at any point property owners are being re-zoned for any reason, they should be part of the conversation early and should have appropriate recourse and accessibility to advocate for their needs and property rights prior to any reversible decisions being made.

The Travis County property owners should have been contacted when discussions began and given an opportunity to provide input.

Anyone potentially affected by the district's consideration of this issue should be notified well in advance. There is no excuse for someone to have this sprung on them and their family.

DNR

We now know who our new superintendent will be and I sincerely hope that more due-diligence was placed on this endeavor vs the last 3 attempts. I hope that the board learned from the mistakes made with Mr. Washburn’s and Mr. Springston’s hiring and have addressed those with the hiring of Dr Holly Morris-Kuentz. A full analysis of how this decision was made needs to be done so we can see if there was mindful decisions during this process as well extending this analysis out to the 3rd party provider that recommended all those individuals. Regardless of the selection, I am taking an optimistic[...]

DNR

I have worked for twelve superintendents in seventeen years. I worked for 7 at Dallas ISD and 5 CFO's in 8.5 years. I understand the pain and disruption. I have also, as CFO, compiled the financial responses and benchmark data for the superintendent appraisal and from what I saw the appraisals were fairly standard, except in the cases of growth/remedial programs where the superintendent was not meeting expectations. Personnel management and terminations is a high litigated area and very costly. Sometimes it is easier to admit that the situation is not working and cut the ties before more [...]

I would have to read the contract and know the situation of the individual resigning. In general, I believe that employee contracts of this nature should have stipulations that create a fiscally vested interest for both the employee and the employer. I would have to take into account the circumstances of the district in order to determine if there is an urgent need, or if the hiring window could be postponed to a spring/summer, and then fully explain the decision once it’s made. There are a lot of reasons why the entire process can’t be in the open, but what can be made public should, i.e. [...]

Accepting the resignation would be preferred, assessing penalties for the contractual violation. Once the resignation is offered, the performance would suffer if forced to remain. The search for a permanent superintendent should wait until the next spring when the pool of candidates would be larger. The selection process should not be in secret closed sessions.

I believe everyone should have to abide by the contract that he or she voluntarily entered into. The way the previous superintendent left should have included some kind of penalty. If business-as-usual is the only other option, then I'm not sure why we need employment contracts at all. As for executive session, I don't mind the district using it to discuss existing staffers but potential hires should be vetted in a more public manner, especially if we're going to outsource it to third-party actors who are not subject to public information act requirements.

DNR

With any hiring and firing of a superintendents, it is crucial to assess what is in the best interests of students. As best as possible, I would want to prioritize consistency and keep to an academic calendar in order to minimize disruptions to leadership which may deleteriously affect students.

DNR

I think we should learn from the mistakes of the past and not repeat them. Not to downplay your concerns, but you have identified them well. DSISD can always do better. Good leadership can make an enemy into a comrade. Open communication can make hard decisions into plans of action. When I had community input budget meetings, it gave me the opportunity to know in advance what the sticking points might be. I could then either adjust to address the concerns, or if it weren't feasible (German 4 for one student for example), have a compelling reason why the concern could not be resolved (we [...]

Committees one of the first and best places the board can make inroads in providing more connection and access to parents and community members. There should be a consistent outlined process for posting open committee position, application/review process, and follow-up process for candidates. The board should be prepared to answer specific questions related to individuals placed on committees including appropriate credentials, experience, and/or vested interest. This issue can and should be immediately addressed. We should do whatever possible to get the most experienced and innovative pro[...]

The committee structuring is not representative, and handpicking members is not without bias. All committees should have an equal number of members from the community - parents, DSISD employees and taxpayers.

I believe the district can and should do a much better job selecting committee participants. The current process appears biased and elitist.

DNR

The most recent covid task force is an example of a committee made up of mostly teachers and staff within the district with a significant minority of teachers. It is crucial that we create diverse committees of individuals to best represent the diverse opinions and needs of the greater community at large.

DNR

Our selection of committee members should be done in a more official and transparent format. I believe that at least one board member should be part of each committee as it is already structured and then with the board approval 1-2 additional members of the board’s choice. The other choices up to 7 (equal to the amount of board members) should be chosen at random from a list of those that are willing to participate from the community. This creates ownership with the board members and removes the bias that may be present when people are hand-picked for the committee. If a committee cannot p[...]

I can't speak to much of the specifics posed in this question - we moved here just after the May 2018 bond election. As relates to lawsuits, again it would depend on the specific scenario. I am not outright opposed to utilizing legal means to protect the interests of the district. While it may be possible that the countersuit filed by the board against CEEDS was wrong, there could easily be a situation where the board is in the right and needs the ability to protect it's decision(s). However, a healthy cost/benefit analysis would have to be completed to ensure that protecting that decision[...]

I advocate for holding a new election in order to achieve a clear and definite outcome. The bond passing with such a small, questionable margin AND taxpayers requesting a recount, a new election should have been held. That $456,963.53 should have never been spent.

Bond elections mired in controversy are neither good for taxpayers nor healthy for voters. It's clear that trustees handled the 2018 bond result in a poor way, and should have ideally held a new election so as to clear up any controversy. In the future, I will always come down on the side of taxpayers.

DNR

Clear and transparent communication is a critical component for a school board to regain trust and confidence with constituents and the community. Litigation often occurs because of poor trust, lack of connection, and no open communication. These are things we can work to correct.

DNR

I hope that we never have to address this type of issue again. It is absolutely in the right of the public to take legal action against the district if they see a valid issue that merits a judges ruling. And it is in everyone’s best interest to ensure that we never have to see that day again. The district spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to defend this action and the result was a lose-lose for both, ultimately with our students losing the most out of this situation. A bond that is well defined shouldn’t need to come so close to passing or failing as this bond did. Take Lake Travis’s[...]

DNR

Administrations schedule closely contested bond elections for an "off" election period. A period when they expect voter turnout to be light because high ranking federal or state offices are on the ballot. These elections are won or lost by a few hundred votes. Stakeholders/taxpayers can control this be taking voting seriously. I realize the people reading this are active voters and know what I am saying. I believe there is a real need for a grass roots initiative to engender interest in voting. That being said I will address your question. I regret that CEED's was pressured into dealing [...]