Katy ISD school board candidates Ross Raymond and Stacy Edwards-Tomdio have responded to the latest reader-submitted question in InstantNewsKaty’s online candidate forum.

 

Raymond is challenging incumbent Robert Shaw for the Position 6 seat. Edwards-Tomdio is running against Neal Howard for Position 7.

 

Howard declined to take part in the forum.

 

Shaw initially agreed to participate, but then withdrew because, he said, not all candidates were participating.

 

The question, as submitted by InstantNewsKaty readers, was:

 

“In the KARE forum, incumbent Robert Shaw, who did not attend, sent a statement that said the school board was ‘not a decision-making body.’ I thought this was a particularly odd statement to make. If not the school board, who makes the top-level policy decisions for the school district? What are your thoughts on this statement? Is the school board a “decision-making” body in your opinion?”

 

These are the candidate’s unedited responses in the order they were received:

 

Stacy Edwards-Tomdio –

 

My thoughts are, if the school board is not a decision making body what is it supposed to do? 

 

If someone can sit on it for 12 years and not realize the Board is expected to be in charge it is time someone shared the news with him, don’t you think?  This might explain why we are paying $5.3 million for artificial turf without taking a single comment from the public!  I guess the Board thought it was powerless to act on its own to solicit additional viewpoints other than the ones brought to it by the administration.

 

Given my own opponents comfort level with that decision and how it was handled and his reluctance to share his viewpoints, I believe we can assume he shares the same outlook and that should disturb all of us if true.

 

But we can’t know as he won’t say.  I understand he and Mr. Shaw are sharing their resources and people in this campaign I can only assume this attitude about the role of the Board will remain unchanged if they are elected on Saturday.  For some folks that is good. For others a little change is a welcomed breath of fresh air.

 

I hope to go to the Board and open the windows a little bit and encourage the Board to make decisions in the best interest of the community not what a vendor or administrator has on their ‘wish list.’  I will never lose sight of the fact the final decision maker is the community and they have an option to use that power on Saturday.

 

Thanks for asking.

 

Ross Raymond –

 

This is a fundamental difference between our two philosophies.  The Board must be a decision making body otherwise it is nothing but a rubber stamp for the administration.  I think not.

 

The Board is charged with setting goals, objectives, and defining school district policy.  It also sets our TAX RATE and if that is not decision making I wonder what qualifies!

 

The Board controls one employee; the superintendent of schools.  While it is not the responsibility of the Board to micro manage the superintendent it is the responsibility of the Board to ensure he is responsive to the needs of the community.  Frankly, if the only person you control is the top executive, what additional power do you need?

 

In my world the organizational chart is:

COMMUNITY,

BOARD,

SUPERINTENDENT,

SUPPORTING STAFF

 

While I feel it is in everyone’s best interest for the Board and superintendent to be on the same page, I do not look at the school board as a body of 8.  It is seven elected officials who serve at the pleasure of the VOTERS who in turn supervise the superintendent.  The ‘GANG OF EIGHT’ management style as Robert likes to call it is in my opinion a flawed working model.  I believe it is a Board of SEVEN working closely with the superintendent on behalf of the community to make decisions pure and simple.

 

Neal Howard –

 

Declined to take part in the forum.

 

Robert Shaw –

 

Declined to take part in the forum.

 

Additional questions and answers will be published in the remaining days leading up to the May 9 election.