Four candidates have filed for three three-year terms on the Salado Independent School District Board of Trustees for the May 6 general election. They appear on the ballot in this order: Savannah Hennig, Kimberly Redelsheimer, David Matthews and Eric Malmin.
This week, Salado Village Voice asked the candidates the following questions. Their answers appear in the order that they appear on the ballot.
Question 1: Does Salado ISD provide a safe environment for the children and staff members on its campuses? What efforts would you support to improve student and staff safety? (200 words)
Question 2: Does Salado ISD prepare all of its students for life beyond the end of their public education? What programs, initiatives and curriculum would you support to improve this area? (150 words)
Question 3: Does Salado ISD support staff and teachers? Does it do a good job of attracting, retaining and promoting quality teachers and other staff? What can be done to further improve this? (150 words)
Question 4: Do you support the current administration of Salado ISD? In what area is the SISD Administration strongest? In what area is the SISD Administration weakest? What is the role of the board of trustees in its relation to the administration? (200 words)
Savannah Hennig
Question 1: My own child attends Salado ISD, and I would not have him enrolled if I believed Salado ISD was an unsafe environment. Salado ISD has made many external safety improvements in recent years to include updated cameras in quality and quantity, updated fencing, verifying external doors remain closed and locked, additional School Resource Officers so that we have one at each campus, the School Marshall program, and most recently the board approved uniform key entry, electronic badge access, and Salado ISD’s own police department. However, safety is not only external. Internally, the district has seen an increase in students presenting behavior issues, and that also has an impact on student and staff safety. Salado ISD has a part-time mental health counselor, and I would support having one full-time. The district has added a behavior room for students that need to be removed from a classroom, and I support additional and adequate staffing to meet the behavioral needs of students. I support appropriate training for our staff on mitigating behavior issues as well as policies, procedures, and fine-tuned processes for managing behavior and removing students from the general classroom as warranted and allowed by state and federal law.
Question 2: Salado ISD received an accountability rating of “A” last year for College, Career, and Military Readiness and does well in preparing students for life after high school. In preparation for college, the district offers four different ways to earn college credit in high school to include dual credit courses through Temple College, Advanced Placement courses, an associate degree program through Texas Bioscience Institute, as well as OnRamps through UT Austin. The district has also been adding vocational programs to the high school as interest, space, and budget allows. The district offers courses in Family Consumer Science, a variety of Ag Sciences, Computer Science and Business. The district has Health Sciences where students can earn Phlebotomy or Pharmacy certifications. I support adding additional vocational programs as our student enrollment grows and our capacity to house programs increases to include more variety in business classes, JROTC, cosmetology, photography, culinary arts, etc.
Question 3: Salado ISD is fortunate to have been fully staffed this school year while many other districts in Bell County and across Texas have not been. The district works to keep qualified teachers in positions they want to be in while also promoting qualified staff as positions open. While Salado ISD does offer a competitive salary for our size district, supporting staff and teachers is more than “just the money.” Salado ISD has historically attracted staff from higher paying districts because of the environment we offer within the walls of our schools. We must maintain a friendly, close-knit, supporting environment for our teachers and staff. We must listen to our staff about needs within the schools. We must prioritize our budget to not only pay our staff/teachers well, but to provide our teachers with the support that they need to do their jobs effectively.
Question 4: I support our campus and central administration, because I have seen how hard they work with each other toward the common goal of doing what is best for our students and staff. I recognize that support does not always mean agreement, and when that occurs, I lean into question asking, information gathering, and productive conversation.
A big challenge administration faces is growth, and while we are growing very quickly, we are still a smaller district, and our administration must wear many hats. We do not have a big central office, and campus and central administration carry a lot of additional job titles. While I don’t necessarily view that as a weakness, it is a challenge. Administration possesses several strengths that include brainstorming solutions to issues that arise, knowledge on state and federal school law, and how hard each individual works toward district goals.
In relation to administration, a school board governs the district while administration manages the day to day operations within the framework of policies and priorities the board adopts. A school board’s responsibilities include adopting goals, reviewing and adopting policies, hiring and evaluating the superintendent, adopting a budget and setting the tax rate, and communicating with the community.
Kimberly Redelsheimer
Question 1: I think that SISD is currently doing the best it can to provide a safe environment for students and staff members on all campuses. The new SISD Police Force and the School Marshall Program are tangible efforts to provide a safe environment. I think SISD is facing two significant challenges in providing a safe environment: lack of adequate space, and maintaining a sufficient amount of teachers, aides, and substitutes. Recently, TAE has had an increase in behavioral/discipline issues. These incidents affect all students and staff. Resolving behavioral situations can be difficult and complex. Having adequate space to isolate unsafe behavior is critical, as well as having staff trained to handle difficult situations. Clear communication with parents is essential to resolving behavior issues. I hope that SISD can continue to use the resources they currently have (counselors, teachers, higher staff to student ratios), as well as expand resources such as a more developed intervention plan, social workers, additional staff, and more space. I hope that SISD will not have to use any portable classrooms in the future. I see portables as not only less safe but also not supportive of a seamless community atmosphere.
Question 2: SISD prepares its students exceptionally well for life after high school. The SISD graduation rate, along with college and scholarship offers our students receive is evidence of this. The Ag courses and FFA program are vital to developing future leaders in these areas and beyond. Enlistment in military service and enrolling in pre-professional programs (healthcare, welding, construction, etc.) are other avenues which SHS graduates excel at after high school. SHS offers Dual Credit, AP courses, and On-ramps courses which offer students the option to earn college credit while still in High School. Additional foreign language options (currently Spanish is the only language offered) would help give students more choices and help students understand other cultures. More vocational courses would augment the course offering at SHS. Many high schools are focusing on developing robust Career and Technical Education Programs, and I think SHS should consider expanding resources in this area.
Question 3: From my perspective, SISD fully supports staff and teachers. But, I am not staff or a SISD teacher! In order to answer this question, I asked several teachers and staff how they would answer this question. Overwhelmingly they stated that they felt unwavering support and involvement from their principal. Teachers and staff described to me a culture of caring, attentiveness, and involvement. In terms of attracting, retaining, and promoting teachers/staff, increases in pay and more resources for continuing education are key. Excellent teachers will continue to be in high demand and SISD needs to plan for an increasingly competitive job market. Several local ISDs have changed to a 4-day school week to give teachers better work-life balance. Pay scales for substitutes and aides should be evaluated. The ratio of administrative positions to teachers should be examined.
Question 4: I support the current administration and the goals SISD is trying to achieve. My experience with SISD administration as a parent has been helpful, efficient, clear, and cooperative. I have attended several SISD Board Meetings and found them to be organized and efficient. There is a large number of SISD teachers, principals (all 4 of them), and administrators who are also currently SISD school parents. This is an indicator that our staff believes in the quality of the SISD school system. An area where I think the Board can improve is transparent follow-up to concerns raised at the meetings. As the meetings potentially reach a wider audience via livestreaming, it’s essential that there is a tangible response to all concerns raised. The SISD School Board should simultaneously support and challenge the administration. Collaboration is crucial to develop the best solutions for the challenges SISD encounters. Opening new avenues of communication directly between teachers and the SISD board would increase awareness of teacher concerns. An effective school board facilitates clear communication and accountability between all of the stakeholders in the ISD, in order to provide the best education possible for all students.
David Matthews
Question 1: Salado ISD does a wonderful job on safety. Due to recent tragic school events, it is important to keep school safety a top priority. It is imperative that we learn from others, continue to research safety strategies, and support the staff to ensure the safest schools we can offer. SISD has a Safety and Security Committee that meets once per month to go over any concerns and ideas on how to improve safety. SISD now has their own police force and I have a lot of faith that Chief McHone has been a great addition to the district and our safety goals. Based on my experience as a dad of a SISD student, one area of concern is pick up procedures, such as flow of traffic and family identification. I would support the Safety and Security Committee’s efforts while also supporting any additional training that is important to reach our goals.
Question 2: Salado has amazing teachers that help support our kids in their educational growth through high school. SISD has a very wide variety of courses that are built for each student’s growth and abilities whether they are going to a university, or a vocational-technical college, or starting their career after high school. SISD can handle all those needs with honors classes, college transition courses, and even livestock productions courses. I believe our kids will be well-prepared for a prosperous future thanks to our teachers and staff. If SISD grows like we all know it will, suggestions for additional course offerings in the future could be courses like HVAC, plumbing, cosmetology, electrical, etc.. We hope to be able to upgrade our classrooms in the area of technology.
Question 3: We are fortunate to live in a community that supports SISD students and staff. We need to recognize and retain those teachers that have been loyal in order to avoid losing quality teachers to higher paying districts. It’s important to share the success of our schools so that we attract teachers and staff looking for the supportive environment we offer. With innovative technology, such as websites and video conferencing, in addition to job fairs, we can widen our search pool. It’s important to establish communications with Universities and Technical schools to recruit the best new teachers for SISD. These ideas and more will be important due to the increased number of families moving into our community. This needs to be a priority of SISD for the continued success of our students.
Question 4: I support the current administration and believe in unity. I think one of the administration’s strengths is the daily communication with the community. If selected as school board trustee I will learn more about our weakness and strengths. I know that our teachers and staff work very hard to make sure all our kids get the best education possible. The role of a trustee involves adopting goals, budgets, priorities, and policies, monitoring their success or failure, hiring and evaluating the superintendent, and listening to the community.
Eric Malmin
Question 1: The safety and security of our students and teachers is a top priority. The current administration and trustees have made excellent investments in the safety of our schools including adding vestibules at entrances, electronic key card access and some perimeter fencing. They have also approved the Marshal program as well as an autonomous SISD police department.
There continues to be areas for improvement, specifically at the high school and elementary school campuses. These campuses are more challenging due to the age of some of the buildings, the higher number of students in a more confined space and the fact that students at both campuses must often leave the building in order to travel to their next class.
If elected I would support continued high level crisis management and emergency training for all staff as well as practical exercises and training beyond the minimal requirements for all campus marshals and police officers. I would support risk analyses from experts in the field of security to assist in identifying weak points at our campuses and developing action plans to address their findings.
We will never regret being over-prepared when it comes to the safety and security of our children.
Question 2: Over the past 12 years the graduation rate for Salado ISD has been 99.4%. Approximately 70% of Salado graduates enroll in a four year college or university and approximately 10-15% enroll in a two year college or trade school. This clearly indicates that Salado ISD has a long history of successfully preparing students to continue their academic career in the postsecondary setting. Salado ISD currently offers several Career and Technical Education (CTE) courses for students who choose to pursue a future outside of the educational system. I believe this is an invaluable resource for our students and also an area of great potential growth for our district. CTE courses can provide students with opportunities to learn practical skills and earn certifications that allow them to immediately enter the workforce and impact their community. If elected I would support efforts to expand CTE opportunities for students at Salado ISD.
Question 3: Salado ISD is fortunate to have some of the most outstanding teachers across all of our campuses and grade levels. I recognize that their job is not easy, especially these past few years, and I truly admire and appreciate their dedication to our students. While I will always support higher pay, I do believe there are additional ways that we can better support our teachers. The role of the paraprofessional is vital for the success of our students and teachers. We need to increase pay for paraprofessionals so that we can fully staff these positions and get the teachers and administrators the support they desperately need. Similarly, we must increase the pay for substitute teachers. All too often teachers must take on additional students from other classes due to the inability to find a substitute teacher. This leads to classroom overcrowding and increased workloads for our teachers.
Question 4: I have had the privilege of meeting and talking with the campus administrators at all three of our campuses. They all speak with great passion and excitement when talking about their teachers and students and it is obvious that each of them cares deeply for their school and everyone in it. I believe at the campus level our administration’s greatest strength has been mastering the art of doing more with less. The unique challenges that our principals face at each campus require a high level of creativity and flexibility in order to meet the needs of their students and staff.
At the higher level, I believe that our administration should continue to work on open communication and exploring new avenues to provide transparency to parents and community members in order to foster a partnership built on trust and confidence.
The board of trustees is responsible for hiring and evaluating the superintendent. The superintendent manages the district but must do so within the framework established by the board of trustees. The board provides oversight of education and makes decisions on policy based on the community’s priorities, values and expectations.