A Closer View Of The Winners From Yesterday’s SMCISD Trustee Election
by, Melissa Jewett @CorridorNews
I find it so hard to believe that we only had a total of 2925 votes cast in the SMCISD Board of Trustees election.
I think in reality that is a big part of why our local schools performance is where it is currently. If we could just get half the parents in our community to not only vote, but also show interest in our schools, children, and the Board of Trustees, our children would have a much brighter future.
What happened to all the people that worked so hard to pass the last school bond? Why did they not turn out to vote?
They believed having the new schools and stadium was so very important for the future of San Marcos. Do they not understand that the education of our children will play into not only the future, but also the Economic future for those children and San Marcos that the most important issue?
Let’s look at who will have the responsibility of our children’s future, along with the future of the “Innovation Corridor.”
Anne Haley (943 votes with 32.24%) and John McGlothlin (674 votes with 23.04%) were elected for the two At-Large seats and Juan Miguel Arredondo (160 votes with 72.07%) was elected to finish the term of District 1.
In 2014, Naomi Narvaiz was elected as Trustee for District 1, but after only serving two months, she resigned and her opponent in that race, Danny Gonzales was sworn in until the next election was to take place. Arredondo and Gonzales were the only two running for the District 1 position.
Just a short couple of weeks ago San Marcos Corridor News (SMCN) published full interviews with all the candidates, except for Jesse Ponce Jr. who never returned phone calls or emails.
The winner who stands out the most to us is Arredondo, and this was his second election for the Board of Trustees.
I do not think I have ever met someone as passionate about our children and the San Marcos School District. This young man grew up here, went to San Marcos public schools, and is currently attending Texas State University.
In his recent interview with SMCN, he admits that the Board of Trustees can’t go back and change the vote for spending the money on a scoreboard vs. taking the almost 1 million dollars and hiring some additional teachers to lower the student to teacher ratio to what the state standards are.
He also stated, “We have to keep in mind that every day that progress isn’t being made, our kids are attending these schools, and we need to do better today, not several years down the road.”
With that statement alone, it should show all how he feels about our children, their future, and the future of San Marcos.
During Anne Halsey’s interview with us, she brings into view an issue with our new Pre-K Program. She stated that she would have liked to see a comparative analysis showing the cost of other Pre-K Programs.
“My son is currently in a preschool program that I pay $435 a month. That preschool program goes from 8 am to 3 pm. The student ratio in my son’s preschool program is 14 to 2. The preschool that my son would be eligible for in the fall (she is referring to the school from the bond) the tuition there is set to be $504 a month from 8 am to 3 pm for a student teacher ratio of 22 to 1. I understand that we have to cover the cost of running the preschool, but I just wonder how viable that is and what research and analysis has gone into that decision because it was not evident to me on Monday night,” referring to a past SMCISD School Board meeting.
“If we are going to use the fund balance then it better be directly effecting the instruction and what happens in the classroom, but only after we have looked into the community and have really done our homework,” She said.
Anne comes with a business background along with serving on a nonprofit board, and then throw into that mix being a Mom. This tells us that she will bring her knowledge of business and the harder job and experience of being a Mom.
“We have Texas State in our backyard and we have all of these vibrant, small business owners, experts, and very devoted community members. There is a father that works for Microsoft and once a week he goes into my child’s school’s afterschool program and teaches the kids’ computer programing that will enable them someday to start their own computer companies if they want. That’s amazing. We already have that local resource. We need to find ways to expand that. Local community partnerships are so important to us and our children.”
John McGlothlin is an attorney and owns his own law firm, and like Arredondo, grew up in San Marcos and is another San Marcos CISD success story.
John also believes we need to lower the student teacher ratio, “I know that if I were teaching second grade and I had 22 students in my class and then got two additional students that would feel like a lot more because you are already working so hard to reach what you have.”
Additionally, John believes we need more parental and community involvement, “Community, it is the community’s school and there’s nothing more important than the future of the community schools doing well and producing educated students that can thrive in a work force and college in this area and elsewhere. So, the first element of community support is parental support and in a lot of cases we have been lacking that.”
These three individuals, along with the Trustees who will continue serving, have a responsibility to San Marcos, but most importantly to our children.
We can only hope that the new and old come together and become one, instead of the fractured and soon to be past School Board. I am certainly not blaming the recent serving individuals, as it’s been many years that this group stood as a team, much less a strong team.
Maybe with a renewed voice and goals, they can once again stand as a team for the greater good of our children, who will be the future of San Marcos.
Tell us your thoughts and opinions in the comments section below.
After watching our school board for 20 years or so, I’m not sure anyone can change the dynamic, and change does not happen overnight. These new board members can say anything they want, but they are now politicians.
I really hope Mr. Arredondo is serious about getting these meetings televised. I think more people will start to care, watch, vote, and maybe San Marcos can start having some serious dialogue about our kids futures. Until our school board can pay the amount of money that it’s going to take to televise their meetings, without taking it from the classrooms, they really need to take Councilman Thomaides up on his offer to have the meeting at city hall.
For what it’s worth and it’s just my opinion, the school board sets the tone, if they would change this tone they have had for years, the change can start the way it should “from the top down.”