Irving School Board Candidate Questionnaires

The following questions were sent to all School Board Candidates. The responses are listed by numerically by District and alphabetically by candidate last name for each question.

Question 1: What qualifies you to serve the citizens of Irving as a School Board Trustee and what motivates you to run for office?

• Manuel A. Benavidez: Education is the foundation for cultural and economic growth. This school district is over 71% Latino and as of yet there is no Hispanic in the board to hear the concerns of the parents that are motivated with the matters that revolve with their children. I have for years made every effort for the school district to focus on the changes that need to be made.
• Gwen Craig: After spending twenty years as an educator, I have a good perspective of the education process. I spent a total of ten years in a high school setting and ten years in an elementary setting.   I was a teacher assistant, a teacher, and a counselor in public school. I am a parent of three children that are products of Irving ISD. I have a passion for children and feel that my experience qualifies me to give back to a community that has given me so much.
• Lee Mosty: B. S. in Elementary and Special Education (K-12), Master’s degree in Mid- Management Administration
  40 years resident of Irving
  34 years teaching for Irving at Elliott Elem. and Lamar M.S.
  3 years driving bus for Dallas County Schools/ concurrent while at Lamar
  3 years Staff Development- Mentoring as a liaison to 1^st year teachers
  Substituted for IISD at all high schools, all middle schools, and most elementary
  District Site Based Committee, including numerous others at campus level
  Selected by peers as teacher of year at campus level
  40 years with athletic department as an Event Staff
  Community involvement:
  PTA involvement and a recipient of Life memberships in National, State, and Extended Life Time Award
  Active in church in many positions of leadership over the years
  Scholarship reader for Irving Schools Foundation
  Irving Arts Center Grant Review Panel
  Cub Scouts leader
  Lee and Donna are parents of 4 children that attended and graduated from schools in District 5. Several of them have chosen the teaching profession.
  I am motivated to run for the Board of Trustees due to many problems that I have discovered in the school system in the last few years. I have knowledge of what the needs and the current conditions are in our district today. I am professional qualified, committed to the community, and will show spectacular leadership on the board.
  I have gained a strong pulse of the Irving Schools, and with your help being elected to monitor the heart beat of your schools.

• Norma Gonzales: As a parent of three children (my oldest graduated from Singley Academy, my second child is a third grader at John Haley Elementary and my youngest is in Pre-K at Clifton Early Childhood Center) I have been, and continue to be, a dedicated parent volunteer. For the past 19 years (eight in the IISD), I have been an active PTA member. I am currently the President of the Clifton Family and Faculty Club, a member of the IISD District Improvement Committee, IISD Parent Advisory Committee, and Head Start of Greater Dallas Policy Council member, I consider it my job as a parent to support my children’s teachers and make sure they have everything they need to teach their students. I will bring a fresh parental perspective to the Irving Independent School District Board of Trustees

• Mike Gregory:  I believe I possess the skill sets and life experiences required of a sound trustee. A board member must be above reproach, must have a shared passion for the district’s vision and mission, must be an effective communicator, must be able to relate to all constituencies, must exercise critical and analytical thinking, must strive for consensus among his or her colleagues, and ideally have prior leadership experience, particularly at the governance level. I served previously on the IISD Board from 1995 – 1998 and have served on other governance boards. I invite you to visit my website at www.mikegregory2013.com for details.
• Randy Randel:         I am motivated to run because I care about our community, and I care about our kids. I am a lifelong resident of Irving. My wife and I attended Irving schools and graduated from Nimitz High. I have two sons who attended Irving schools and currently have a niece and nephew attending Irving Schools. My entire adult life has been spent working with kids. I have served in PTA, Booster Clubs, Campus Improvement Committees, and the District Improvement Committee. I served on the Irving City council for 6 years and served as chairman of the City of Irving Bond Task Force. I was a Pony League baseball coach for 11 years and have been teaching youth Sunday school for 28 years.

• Manuel A. Benavidez: For one, to recognize who this school district has in its presence and adjust the curriculum so the students can have a better understanding. For the second, make a decision that bi-lingual teachers are a direction to reach every student. And for the third, times have changed the makeup of the student in the classroom, making a spearhead that education should be a concern of all of us.
• Gwen Craig: One of the huge challenges that we face in Irving ISD is STARR.   Any accountability piece is a challenge for any district.   Our students were doing well on the TAKS so the state made the test more rigorous. Any time a new test is introduced; there will be an implementation dip in scores.
  
  Another issue that is evident in Irving ISD is poverty. Our free and reduced lunch is around 82%. There is a correlation between failure in school and poverty. We must be aware that when a student is in poverty; school is the least of their problems. Teachers must work even harder to make the student learning more relevant when dealing with students that are in poverty.
  
  The third issue that we face in Irving ISD is communication on every level. Our kids are doing amazing things, but it seems that the community is not aware of these successes. It seems the community always gets the bad news and focuses on that. Good communication to all stakeholders is vital if our district is to be successful. I would invite you to call someone in administration if you have a question about something you have heard. Remember the game when someone whispers in a neighbor's hear something and it goes through every person and it is whispered to the last person and it is nothing the way it started, that’s how rumors get started. Don't believe everything you here.
• Lee Mosty:     1). Teacher morale    2) Number of profession staff leaving our district 3) Language development of non-English students.

• Norma Gonzales: 
  The huge inadequacy of the CSCOPE curriculum.
  Lack of student discipline which leads to an atmosphere that is not conducive to learning.
  Lack of an English immersion option for our Spanish speaking students.

• Mike Gregory: Providing a safe and secure learning environment, graduating students possessing core competencies allowing them to either continue their educational careers or to begin their professional careers, and utilizing wisely and effectively the financial assets (tax dollars) with which the Board is entrusted.
• Randy Randel:  Teacher morale is a challenging issue, and there are different factors that have caused morale to decrease. Lack of appreciation, lack of communication, and lack of support are some of the factors
  
  Our district is over 70% minority and English proficiency remains an issue. We must re-evaluate our bilingual programs and find ways to accelerate the learning of the English language.
  
  Teacher retention is becoming a growing issue that we must correct. Experienced and quality teachers are leaving our district. Employee resignations/retirements have quadrupled in the last three years..

• Manuel A. Benavidez: In my point of view discipline is about two parties. As these young students develop they want to express their feelings. You don’t talk down at them you address these young students with respect and they will act like young ladies and young men.
• Gwen Craig: Discipline does not have to be a challenge for teachers. The days of corporal punishment is pretty much gone. The key to avoiding discipline problems in the classroom is engagement. When students are not engaged, they will be looking for other ways to amuse themselves. When teachers do have problems, they do need to have support from counselors and administrators. It is everyone's job to help students be successful and teachers must feel they have someone to count on when discipline issues are realized.
• Lee Mosty:     As mentioned before I substituted in all the high schools, all middle schools and most of the elementary schools, I got to see firsthand of what is happening. In the high schools the personel in charge of substitutes would often give me their phone number if there was a problem. I did not hesitate to call for help to remove a disorderly student from my class. The security guard would come and get them quickly. In a safe and orderly school, the teachers have a right to teach and the students have a right to learn. The students are provided with a Student Code of Conduct at the start of each year and the parents are to sign and return the cover sheet.   The school’s administration have in this same book that outlines types of discipline problems and levels of degree. Each student starts at zero each year, so it is the teacher’s job to document each problem and work with the student until they have met the guidelines to send them to the office. This is very time consuming while they are teaching the ones that want to learn. The connection is with the administration doing their part to correct the behavior from their end.

• Norma Gonzales: We need to hold all students to the same high disciplinary standard and parents must take responsibility for disciplining their children at home.  District and campus administrators must support our teachers in their efforts to maintain discipline in the classroom so that they can teach. If a teacher refers a student to the office for bad behavior, the principal must discipline the student.  Sending the student back to class without consequences will not be tolerated.  In school suspension must be lesson based, with the student being held responsible for completing the classroom work missed during the suspension.

• Mike Gregory: Assuming the campus discipline plan has been followed and all other strategies have failed, students with disciplinary problems should be removed from the classroom. A strategy that minimized the amount of time teachers must deal with the problem and also insures due process should be followed. The student code of conduct is created by the District improvement Committee comprised of parents, educators and community volunteers and is approved by the Board. With input from them and other resources, the code should reflect a “best practices” model consistent with today’s environment where may parents view their children’s teachers as adversaries and not advocates.
• Randy Randel: We must have a discipline policy that is fair and consistent from campus to campus. The process for teachers to remove discipline problems from the classroom is very cumbersome. We must look at our policy and see what needs to be changed in order to protect the learning environment in the classroom. Classroom teachers must have the support of campus administration, while campus administrators must have the support of central administration.

District 5

• Manuel A. Benavidez: I am in favor of bilingual education. Education is about communication and education in my opinion, is about extending the learning curve to better reach the student in the classroom.
  I do not support English immersion.
  Irving ISD should never accept any excuse for mediocrity in reaching their goal to be an exemplary rated school district. No education system should hide behind excuses of : economically disadvantaged students, too many Latino students, too many different languages, too many transient students or the testing procedures
• Gwen Craig: I feel bilingual education or immersion is a parent's choice for their child's education. The parent is the child's first teacher and so many times when they go to school and are immersed in English, the parents cannot help with their work. My goal is for children to acquire English as quickly as possible. Keep in mind that bilingual education is required by this state. It is the law.. When a child is immersed in English, their first language is taken away, and they might never be able to read and write in their native language. When they are taught in English and their native language, they become bilingual and isn't that better in the long run?
  
  I could support a pilot of English immersion on an elementary campus and see how our students would do. No matter which model we use in Irving, our teachers will figure out how to make it work and our students will be successful.
• Lee Mosty:     Unfortunately, the parents have the choice as to what program the student gets to be placed according to the student’s level of language development.   The problem is that the ones at the language center are the ones that believe what they think is best for the student and strongly suggest which program they should be place into.  English as a Second Language,(ESL) is what is called immersion works best at the entry time into the system, prekindergarten, kindergarten, or first grade. They so very quickly learn to speak English. The sooner they get the language barrier behind them, the sooner they will pass the state testing, such as the STAR test. Until a student passes this test they will always be considered language deficient. I believe that ESL is the best choice.   Teachers in Irving are ESL certified in immersion.

• Norma Gonzales: I support the repeal of MANDATORY bilingual education. I believe that our non English speaking students should receive no more than 2 years of bilingual education. The district needs to do a better job in educating our non English speaking parents about all the instructional options available to their children so that they can make the best decision for their children.

• Mike Gregory: I will preface remarks by stating the obvious: I am no educational expert. Were the state to repeal the bilingual mandate, it should in my opinion still be one option utilized by the District. Studies suggest both bilingual and immersion strategies can be successful depending on the circumstances. However, my role as a trustee is to approve a curriculum proposed by the Superintendent, not mandate it. He alone would be held accountable for the success and effectiveness of his decisions..
• Randy Randel: Yes, I would support the repeal of mandated bilingual education. Since state law mandates districts must provide bilingual programs, I do support an early exit model program. The goal is to develop English language skills quickly, so that by the end of 1^st or 2^nd grade, students can enter English only classes. .

• Manuel A. Benavidez: Spend the money required in the classroom. As your trustee, if elected, I will listen to your concerns and make informed decisions based on facts.
• Gwen Craig: Teachers have a very difficult task of motivating and teaching our young people. The most meaningful way of helping teacher morale is recognizing what they do for our students every day. We forget to say thank you. We must continue to provide the best resources and the support that can help them educate our children.
  
  Teachers feel better about what they do when they are asked for their input and their input and opinions are valued. They are the professionals and experts and should be recognized as such.
  
  I believe teachers can have a better morale if they are not spending as many hours at school. Administrators could help teachers by encouraging more teamwork. When teachers work together to share the workload, they capture more time for their families; that is what really helps morale. 
• Lee Mosty:     Some famous quotes sum it all up:
  
  “Nine-tenths of education is encouragement.”.~ Anatole France
  “All kids need is a little help, a little hope, and somebody who believes in them”. ~ Earvin “Magic” Johnson
  “When you put faith, hope and love together, you can raise positive kids in a negative world”.~ Zig Ziglar
  
  This sums it up for me too.   If the administration would just use more words of praise and encouragement to the teachers, the work conditions would change greatly. The teachers in Irving have to go the extra mile with all the new curriculum, discipline issues, and paper work with the continual testing. A few simple statements would show empathy. The time that teachers put in really shows.  If a top notch administrative leader will just say a few words of encouragement each and every time they see the teachers, then the morale could be curbed.
  
  The next part that hurts the teacher moral is when the superintendent of the schools has been given two separate extensions to his contract until 2017. The most any teacher can get on a contract in Irving is now only a one year   contract. When teaching, I was on 3 year contract for many years. If I were on the board of trustees, I would have never given two extensions to any ones contract. The teacher’s classrooms are visited weekly by administrators. A teacher’s job is on the “chopping block” each and every day, which is not good for morale.
  
  It is an alarming fact (via open records) that we have 2,453 total of professional employees and out of that 385 resigned (left the district) between 9/1/2011 and 6/30/2012 . Therefore 16% left the district. The school boards goal is 10%. This goal was not met . 

• Norma Gonzales: A simple thank you for a job well done would do wonders for teacher morale.  The teachers get all of the blame and none of the credit for success.  The atmosphere of fear must be removed from our district and teachers need to feel free to express their concerns to the administration.  Administration must support our teachers with swift and strong student discipline. Teachers should not be expected to purchase ink, toner and paper for their printers. The district needs to provide the teachers with all materials needed in the classroom.

• Mike Gregory: In speaking with a number of teachers and administrators, morale in the District was compromised with the elimination of term contracts and the decision that most individuals within the administration building had to re-apply for their current positions if they wished to retain them. Improving morale requires open and honest communication. It is now vitally important to assure employees they are valued members of the team who are given a sense of ownership in their roles. Providing teachers and staff the opportunity to participate in appropriate decision-making processes is another significant factor in enhancing their sense of value and importance.
• Randy Randel: Teachers love to teach. We have to decrease the administrative task and data crunching that is required of them. There must be clear and consistent communication as to what is required of our teachers. The district does a great job of providing resources for our teachers, but no time to use them. I believe the more we support our teachers in allowing them to have more instruction time, our teacher morale will improve. Our teachers do an amazing job building relationships with our students, and a simple thank you from the Board and Administration can go a long way.. .

• Manuel A. Benavidez: Homeless students in my opinion is a problem that has very serious repercussions for the school district and should be of concern to everyone. These young students need our help.
• Gwen Craig: We are already addressing this problem in our district. The Project Pass program that we have addresses homeless teens. I actually am a part of The Main Place who help clothe young people in our district. When a student is homeless, education becomes a problem.
• Lee Mosty:     The school district all ready has it taken care of with an extraordinary person, Angela Lutts. She is our school social worker for our district. At the school board meeting, March 4^th it was announced that she has been named The School Social Worker of the Year in Texas
  
  When I drove the school bus for Dallas County Schools, we had students that were transported daily from their unusual place of residence and then brought to the proper schools. 

• Norma Gonzales: The Student and Family Engagement Center along with its director are doing an amazing job. I would explore the current organizational structure and look at alternative ways to organize employees to increase effectiveness in serving our children.   .

• Mike Gregory: I cannot of course change the circumstance of homelessness. However, school districts via federal mandate through the McKinney-Vento Act are charged with providing educational services to their homeless populations. Irving ISD led by Angela Lutts (Texas Social Worker of the Year!) and in partnership with various social organizations including the Family Advocacy Center, Family Promise of Irving, etc. are able to provide some resources in helping stabilize homeless families and assure their children are given access to educational opportunities.
• Randy Randel: I will support our Project PASS program which provides assistance to the homeless students in Irving. We had approximately 800 homeless students identified last semester. This program helps meet the needs of these students by providing clothing, supplies, and transportation. We have to meet the needs that are required for the students to continue their education. We must understand that the School district cannot solve all of the students’ social issues. .

• Manuel A. Benavidez: In my observation CSCOPE is a misdirected group of lesson plans written by an outside corporation not connected with the school district; thereby taking control from the teacher that knows her students in the classroom and to make the matter worse, they don’t have to adhere to regulation by the State Board of Education. I would certainly be against this type of curriculum management system.
• Gwen Craig: CSCOPE has been very controversial in our district and our state. Because of the STARR, our district was challenged to find a rigorous curriculum that would address the challenges. Our district chose CSCOPE as a resource to help our teachers. CSCOPE has scope and sequence imbedded and the year at glance that is very helpful for teachers. We tried to get the curriculum out there too fast and did not communicate to the teachers as well as we should have. Teachers have a number of lessons that they can pull from when teaching a concept. CSCOPE is aligned to the Texas Essentials of Knowledge and SkillS (TEKS). When a high school chemistry teacher was asked how he felt about ÇSCOPE, he said it was okay but then he said that teachers do not teach curriculum; they teach children.
• Lee Mosty:     It has many, many problems, too many to go into detail. There are better choices out there than using CSCOPE. It is not good for the students, or the teachers to be locked into the tightly outlined schedules. It is an online curriculum, not textbook based that the State of Texas has purchased and adopted for use in the schools.

• Norma Gonzales: I believe we are in dire need of a superior curriculum and I do not think CSCOPE is it. CSCOPE is riddled with errors, shrouded in secrecy and not approved by the State Board of Education or the Texas Education Agency.   Many of the lessons are highly controversial and our test results after using CSCOPE are way below the state average.  I am in support of replacing CSCOPE with a new curriculum based on the state standards created just for the students of the Irving Independent School District.   

• Mike Gregory: To repeat: I am not an education expert. Teachers I have consulted list both pros and cons about CSCOPE. The pros: (1) the program is solid from the perspective of alignment with TEKS (Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills), (2) its highly-structured framework can be helpful to new teachers in suggested teaching strategies. The cons: (1) the assessment piece is burdensome and excessively reduces classroom instructions time; (2) its inconsistent application across the District can create confusion since campus administrations can determine to what extent and detail the specifics are applied. I would require more information before having a say in the fate of CSCOPE.
• Randy Randel: It is no secret that CSCOPE has problems with content, scope and sequence of lesson plans, as well as the assessments that are provided. The state is stepping in and trying to help with some of the issues that districts are having concerning CSCOPE. I am not in favor of a program that is so structured and mandated that we take the creativity and flexibility away from our classroom teachers.   .