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According to the Round Rock ISD History webpage about her, her father was a principal in the district and her mother a teacher. She attended elementary school here. Hope that helps everyone understand her connection to our district.
I have given this a lot of thought and my two top choices are Redbud and Juanita Craft. But in the end, I have to go with Juanita Craft because I think her name speaks to the values I want to promote in this district.
Juanita Craft overcame incredible obstacles to become an amazing leader. Her mother died when she was 15 or 16 years old. But she still graduated high school and college. In 1944, she was the first black woman to vote in Dallas County in a public election. Let me put this in perspective. In 1870, black men were guaranteed the right to vote with the 15th amendment. And in 1918 women got the right to vote. And yet, in 1944, some 26 years later, Juanita Craft is the first black woman to vote in a public election in Dallas County. That had to take a lot of courage and determination on her part. I can’t imagine the barriers she faced to do that. And she continued to embody these noble characteristics by working to integrate the UT School of Law, Dallas ISD, and the University of North Texas over the following decades. Then, she furthered her service to our country as a city councilwoman in Dallas.
Grit. Courage. Determination. Perseverance. Leadership. Service. That is what Juanita Craft Elementary can stand for. I want that.
Dear Trustee Bone,
I think the issue was that your request was for a meeting just days away. If it had been for a meeting at a later date, she could have used the standard procedure. And I think that is an issue that needs addressed as we look at relevant board policies. We need clarity on agenda requests for an imminent meeting, especially when it concerns something as serious as a board leadership reorganization.
I have reflected a lot. I feel it is necessary for me to publicly reaffirm my faith in Trustee Weir as president of our board. I have known President Weir for not quite three years now and it has been a joy. Truly, our district and board are extremely blessed that she is willing to serve. This job, as Board President, is beyond challenging. But her character enables her to lead during this most difficult of times in a way few others could.
President Weir is humble. I value humility highly. The Bile says, “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” (James 4: 6) I have seen time and time again how President Weir has an open mind and heart. She listens and is not arrogant or haughty. She will readily admit error.
President Weir is kind. She truly desires harmony and prioritizes relationships and people. She is eager to help those in need. She is willing to forgive and doesn’t hold grudges, while also establishing appropriate boundaries.
President Weir is contemplative. She doesn’t make rash decisions or respond in anger. She takes time to soberly respond with good judgement to the most challenging of circumstances.
President Weir is reasonable and compassionate. I have never seen President Weir take extreme positions. She listens to all sides and values compromise.
President Weir is a wise servant leader. She embodies being quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to respond in anger. (James 1:19)
Honestly, I could go on and on with my praise of President Weir. While she isn’t perfect, none of us are. She IS an amazing person who I learn from almost every day.
This is a really great discussion and I think there are some superb suggestions here.
In regards to engaging the faith community, what about approaching Austin Interfaith Alliance? We could invite those member institutions that are in our district boundaries. I like that Austin Interfaith includes a really diverse faith community. We also partner extensively with Education Connection, which is also faith based. I’m sure they would have good insight. I will continue to think on other faith based groups that could be part of that stakeholder group.
But in general, super impressed with all the comments above.
Dear Trustee Bone,
Thursday was a very difficult meeting. I was overwhelmed with emotion and not able to really function there at the end. My guess is that I may not have been the only trustee in that mental state. I personally would have (if I had been able to speak and function) asked for the Board Update, and the additional info to be provided therein, before I made a decision as to whether I would support it being added to the agenda.
Please ask again for it to be placed on the agenda at tomorrow’s meeting. Then, we can give trustees another opportunity to respond when we are all not coming off possibly the most stressful meeting we have ever had (and hopefully will ever have). At that point, if there is an objection, we can vote (as we did back on June 4th at minute 2:32:00 when Trustee Chadwell asked for an agenda item and there was an objection raised).
Dear Fellow Trustees,
Last night I had the privilege of speaking to Pond Springs PTA about our board’s legislative priorities. I will also be speaking at the Grisham PTA meeting tomorrow. Both groups have asked me to provide them a form letter which can be personalized to send to their state legislators to help us advocate. I have drafted a letter and was hoping to get your feedback before sharing with those who wish to advocate. My goal in the letter is to highlight the board’s priorities with a focus on the parent’s or community member’s personal narrative. The draft letter is below.
Dear [insert name of legislator],
My name is [insert name] and I am your constituent from the [insert] neighborhood. My children attend [insert] in Round Rock ISD. I am writing today to advocate for the legislative priorities the Round Rock ISD Board of Trustees have spoken with you and your staff about. I believe these priorities are critical for recovering from this pandemic and ensuring high quality education at [insert schools attending] and in all public schools in Texas over the next biennium.
Protecting all programs and funding provided in House Bill 3 is vital. Great strides were made towards improving school funding and providing property tax relief last session. I am heartened to hear continuing these commitments is a bipartisan priority. I know given the pandemic, this is not easily accomplished.
Part of the commitment made in HB 3 concerns teacher salaries. Prioritizing funding for increasing salaries to attract and retain the best possible teaching workforce was a constant refrain. It is absolutely critical the state honors this commitment by providing districts the resources to give teachers raises over the next biennium. This is especially needed given the heroic efforts made by teachers to meet student’s needs during the pandemic.
[Optional: Insert anecdote about the efforts of a beloved teacher during the pandemic and why giving him/her a raise is so important].
Additionally, just continuing the same funding levels in 2019’s HB 3 will not be sufficient to remediate the impact of the pandemic both in terms of learning loss and social/emotional strain on students.
[Optional: Insert personal anecdote about the impact of the pandemic on your student(s) or on students you know].
It is vital that schools receive the federal funds allocated by Congress to address the issues that my student encountered and those of so many others. As such, the federal funds must supplement and enhance, rather than supplant, the state’s commitments to public schools.
I appreciate the opportunity to share with you my concerns.
Sincerely,
[insert name]
[insert address]I agree with Trustee Xiao that we need to focus on teacher retention as a board priority. And if allowing a teacher to work from home who is high risk, or who lives with a family member who is high-risk, enables that skilled teacher to continue delivering high quality instruction, albeit virtually, I believe that is what is long-term in the best interest of RRISD.
I also agree that enabling staff to be vaccinated ASAP is a high priority. I am grateful for administration’s continued efforts to make this a reality. Just today we received an email that staff 55+ with underlying health conditions could receive a vaccine today from 3-4 PM through Austin Public Health. All spots were snatched up in minutes. This and the Ascension Seton opportunity earlier this month to staff 65+ are indicative of the efforts being made to provide vaccinations to those staff that wish them and are eligible. As vaccine supply increases, I am confident RRISD administration will enable more opportunities for RRISD staff only vaccination clinics.
In terms of improving the in-person and virtual learning experiences, I have been grateful to see the input from the community. And I can say that many of the suggestions are the reality in many classrooms around the district. When I toured Double File Trail Elementary, Hernandez Middle School and Stony Point High School last Friday, I saw firsthand.
Things I saw in my tours:
At Hernandez, I saw that teachers were engaging with students in every classroom I visited. One teacher had a long pointer (probably 5 feet long) and used this device to point to text in a physical worksheet that a student was using. That enabled her to both stay physically distanced but also engage the student in a meaningful way. I also saw a teacher who had a robotic device that moved her tablet (which she was using to record herself) to follow her movements throughout the room. That way she didn’t have to just remain behind the computer screen.
At Double File, I saw the plastic dividers being used to enable group work. Students were able to sit closer to each other because they had the plastic divider. Every classroom I visited benefited from the interactive flat panels and no teachers were sitting behind desks. All were engaged with in-person students while interacting with the virtual ones as well. They displayed the virtual students on the flat panel and used the projectors to display the material for the in-person learners.
Based on my tours thus far, the focus really needs to be improvement at the high school level. I have toured Westwood and Stony Point now and both looked the same. Teachers taught at their desks to the computer and students (1-3 per classroom) sat far apart engaging virtually on their devices. Based on my discussions with the principals (even with a couple teachers), there are many obstacles, staffing and safety being among the biggest. But we need to make every effort to improve the in-person experience (while not compromising safety) and I look forward to seeing the ideas administration brings to the meeting tomorrow.
Dear Fellow Trustees,
I agree with Trustee Harrison that in the fall, when we will likely see fewer students opting for virtual and class sizes for in-person can be larger, we should do all we can to eliminate the hybrid learning model and allow in-person teachers to just teach in-person students and virtual teachers to just teach virtual students. In some cases, it may be necessary for a teacher to offer a virtual only block, which the rest would be in-person. It may also mean that high school students wanting specific classes that do not have enough students for a virtual class on the home campus, may need to be combined with other virtual students from other RRISD campuses.
I also think we may want to get feedback on the following: for the 2021/2022 school year to say that only in-person students can participate in extracurricular activities (maybe excluding clubs and some other activities where virtual participation is actually possible). If a family is truly choosing virtual for fear of the virus, it would seem appropriate that those same families would not be comfortable with that student participating in football or basketball, as examples. I am fine with continuing the policy of allowing virtual students to participate in extracurriculars for the 2020/2021 school year, as I can see how parents with children in those activities could feel they are protecting teachers and staff by such a course of action. However, come the 2021/2022 school year, if all teachers and staff that want a vaccine can obtain one, that should not be a concern.
Of course, this is all contingent on the vaccine actually being effective for persons 16+ and the vaccine being widely available to that population.
Dear Fellow Trustees,
As I read over these posts, I see areas of agreement that we can act on.
1. We agree we need to know how many families would like to continue in the virtual model for at least the first semester of the 2021/2022 school year. Once we have that data, we can work with Dr. Presley to plan and prepare. We can direct Dr. Presley to conduct a survey so we have this data by Spring Break.
2. We agree that our in-person and virtual models need to improve to meet student needs’ better. I believe actions are being taken right now to make that occur. The installation of the interactive flat panels in middle and high school will go a long way toward improving both models of learning. No longer will teachers or students be focused on the screen in front of them. They can use the interactive flat panels to see the students virtually and engage with the course content. We know the middle school installation will be done the beginning of February and the high school the end of March. I am grateful for the work of staff to make this happen in an expedited fashion. I also think the two-way discussions that we are voting on at tomorrow’s meeting will help administration with more ways to improve the student experience.
I look forward to finding more areas of agreement we can build upon.
Dear Fellow Trustees,
I concur with Trustee Xiao on many of his points. I have stated my opinion on the Dias and on this message board previously. I am not in favor of eliminating virtual learning for the 2021/2022 school year. We will have many, many families who still feel it isn’t safe for their students to return to school next fall. I know each of us have different levels of tolerances for what is or what is not safe. But as Trustee Xiao said, “The district shall serve all.” I could see referring those families to an established online Texas public school if it was only a handful. But it will likely be thousands. As such, we have a duty to provide a quality education to them until this pandemic is past.
Furthermore, I believe that virtually learning gives us an additional tool in our toolbox to better meet the needs of ALL students. As Trustee Xiao stated in his post, the world has been forever changed by the pandemic and we can’t go back to the way it was before. We have a chance to innovate our practices and utilizing virtual learning in some capacity will likely be a part of that innovation.
As for the recovery plan, I prefer to hear Dr. Presley’s presentation before making any comments.
Dear Fellow Trustees,
Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar released the Biennial Revenue Estimate (BRE) today and it was better than expected. Instead of facing a deficit from this biennium of over $4 billion, we are facing one of just under $1 billion. And he projects revenue over the next biennium to only decrease slightly ($0.4 billion), with a possibility that it will be better than that.
While his estimate wasn’t rosy, it wasn’t dire. And I will take that as a win. And we know we have federal stimulus money coming to schools: public schools will receive $54 billion, or four times what was received from the coronavirus relief bill passed in March. The most recent package provides an average of about $1,000 per public school student.
With the state budget situation better than expected and federal money on the way, I am hopeful we can achieve our legislative priorities. I certainly will do my utter best to that end.
Dear Fellow Trustees,
Over the weekend, I reflected a lot. For me, that involves a lot of prayer. And what I came to is that I cannot support an audit at this time. We are in a crisis – the biggest crisis to ever hit public education. We need all focus on our students. An audit is a worthy venture. And we do need to utilize the dollars entrusted to us in the most efficient and effective way possible. However, right now we must get through this crisis. It is like we are sailing a ship and we are in a horrible storm. All of the crew are needed to sail the ship and weather the storm with as little damage as possible. I fear if we venture down the path of audits, our captain, Dr. Presley, and his senior staff, won’t be able to focus on what is absolutely most important – our students – in this time of crisis. Audits take the time of staff and I think everyone can see, our staff is working so very hard. To add more to their plates at this time would divide their focus and I want their focus completely on students’ needs.
If we really focus on students’ needs and providing the best possible education in these horrible and impossible circumstances, next school year, when this crisis diminishes, we will see those students we lost this year return. And much of that $27 million deficit will disappear (because most of it is related to lower enrollment). Moreover, I feel what I can do is focus on the legislature and making sure the money the federal government allocated to support schools (via the CARES Act and the recent stimulus) actually gets to us. I can work hard to make sure we are held harmless for the rest of the 2020-2021 school year (which would erase $13 million of the $27 million deficit) and receive additional funding next year for staff raises and remediation of learning loss. This advocacy at the legislature is what I ran on because I know how much the decisions of the legislature impact us – especially as it relates to our budget.
There will come a time to really take a hard and deep look at our budget and devote staff resources to that end. But right now, in the middle of the storm, we need them 100% focused on students.
Update: I just learned that Governor Abbott won’t be making a decision on the hold harmless. He is leaving it up to the legislature to decide. What that means is we won’t have an answer until April/May at the earliest. This hold harmless money impacts our budget for this 2020-2021 school year. It will determine the size of the deficit for this year.
The hold harmless has less of an impact on the 2021-2022 budget. The bigger driver of that budget will be whether we are able to get our enrollment back to pre-pandemic levels.
I agree that President Weir did an excellent job with her research and proposed changes. I concur with them. I agree with Trustee Weston in the desire to continue the ability to give public testimony virtually. Any way we can make public engagement with the board easier is welcome. And I also agree that allowing those who are in person to speak first makes sense.
