Category Archives: Election

WATCH: Patriot Mobile PAC Trustees keep misleading the community about what they are doing to our district. (Everything is *not* fine!)

When Patriot Mobile PAC trustees took over GCISD a year ago, they promptly started misleading the community.

WHAT’S TRUE? Click to watch the video for yourself in under 2 minutes! Or read on…

In the video:

NOT SO FAST: A Trustee who was endorsed by Patriot Mobile in 2022 states that the district training would provide “lots and lots of clarity for our teachers” on the new policy.

In fact, the “policy training” was only a 30 minute slideshow of someone reading the policy, verbatim.

WE KNOW BETTER: The Patriot Mobile Trustee said she was “glad to hear [Advanced Placement (AP) classes] aren’t threatened in any way.”

Nope! GCISD cut the Director of Advanced Academics and AP Coordinator positions. They cut AP Mandarin, AP Latin, AP European History; high-level math students are teaching themselves; CHHS GT classes were eliminated or had 1 offering only; AP teachers are quitting & retiring; and 18 books are still banned from advanced secondary courses. All these changes are huge threats to the quality of GCISD‘s reputation. [ Watch: College Impact Panel ]

SAY WHAT NOW?: Next, in the same public meeting, Trustee Becky St. John asks for clarification on the instructional policy, wondering if a teacher could speak about breaking news during a US History, World History, or Government class?

At 25 seconds into the video, the response from district staff is NO. “That may be the course, but it may not be where they are in their Scope and Sequence.” The new policy is drastically limiting teachers to whatever is scripted in the boxed lesson plan for that day. It seems like a social studies teacher would be risking their job if they mentioned the day’s headlines.

GCISD deserves better than what Patriot Mobile PAC is offering!

FIND OUT MORE:

Check out the Voter Guide from United for GCISD.

Compare the TEA Recommended vs GCISD Adopted EFB Local policy (YouTube video)

Watch the 30-minute video “training” that GCISD provided to teachers on the new policy in October 2022.

Read: Deep Dive on Book Bans in GCISD

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Preparing Your School Board Vote: Focus on the Facts

We need trustees who will stand up for our students and staff, seek input from our community, facilitate respectful discussion, & make financial decisions with integrity. Who better than involved GCISD parents: a current teacher, a retired teacher, and a management consultant with extensive GCISD volunteerism!

Here’s a few options for citizens of Grapevine and Colleyville to get plugged into the conversations and to hear how the candidates will be addressing key concerns from our community.

May 21, Books & Baseball Bring Us Together

Follow this link to register to buy tickets together with friends.

Event Recaps:

Continue to get the facts so your vote restores parent, teacher and student voice in the district.

Recorded Panel Discussion

How do college admissions view GCISD changes & challenges?

Hear directly from graduates, parents and educators: Get the main points from the 1.5 hour panel with our shorter clips here.

GCISD graduates, educators and parent join in discussion on GCISD policy changes impacting the college experience - from admissions to career.
View Recording

School Board
Voting Guide

GCISD has adopted a plurality voting system, in which the candidate with the the most votes wins. 

We have two 3-way races in this year’s election.

View Voter Guide

We also wanted to outline a few priority areas to be looking for when you talk with your friends, or if you get a chance to directly speak with a candidate.

Three things to consider when preparing a vote for School Board positions:

We need TRANSPARENCY in how the school board runs GCISD

  • Will we be able to follow Trustee actions and contribute to decision making through an open, transparent process?
    • Many concerned citizens of Grapevine and Colleyville question the legitimacy of the ā€œbalancedā€ budget. The New School Board Majority knowing not all expenses were reflected, has repeatedly claimed the budget was balanced, even though it is now being adjusted monthly. 
    • Watch the January School Board meeting (starting at 2 hrs 21 minutes) to hear the Interim CFO, describe the challenges and changes needed to manage the current GCISD budget.

We need to KEEP OUR TEACHERS because they are the key to an excellent education

  • Will leadership make choices and support programs to keep our teachers, so we maintain our track record of excellence in education?
    • Keeping teachers through appropriate raises, professional development supports and a healthy work environment is an option, to avoid the costs of hiring and recruiting and training a new generation of teachers.
    • Since the New Board Majority assumed control, we have lost 175 EDUCATORS AND COUNTING. These spots have been replaced with 140 new hires on one-year probationary contracts.

      View the tracker and see the truth for yourself.

We need public education to be first priority, including giving students choice within programs

  • What can we do to maintain the differentiated learning programs that bring value for being known as a Destination District?
    • Hasty actions will negatively impact the specialized learning options students and their families current have.
    • Ensure we continue to uphold LEAD 2.0 plans, originally called LEAD 2021. And make sure School Board Trustees keep student success as a primary goal. You can find the full plan here.
      • Students are prepared and informed to participate in programs and activities that align to their interests. Students are supported in growing their potential and making choices about their future. Students feel confident in selecting from our variety of programs and activities.

Message to young voters: Please vote!

Parents of school-aged kids need to get out and vote for pro-public education candidates at the state level Oct. 31-Nov. 4 (early voting ends Friday!) between 7am and 7pm if they want any chance that the “schools they moved here for” will look anything like they envisioned. Right now the people showing up to vote have not been in a school for a very long time.

Source: Texans for Public Education:

Inside the Secret Plan to Bring Private School Vouchers to Texas

Read it in Texas Monthly

INSIDE THE SECRET PLAN TO BRING PRIVATE SCHOOL VOUCHERS TO TEXAS: Political operatives descended on the Hill Country town of Wimberley with a scheme to send taxpayer dollars to private schools. Now theyā€™re shopping the same blueprint elsewhere.

***

The same players involved in Wimberley are actively involved in GCISD:

1. AARON HARRIS ($15,000 donor to Casey Fordā€™s election PAC)

2. MONTY BENNETT (Dallas Express owner/publisher, and donor to Tammy Nakamura)

3. KALESE WHITEHURST(met with Mayor Newton and presented the plan for a Responsive Ed charter campus in Colleyville)

Seems like those sounding the alarm on the plan to destroy GCISD and bring in charter schools have been right to be worried.

***

From the Article:

ā€œIn a document obtained by Texas Monthly, stamped ā€œConfidentialā€ and dated May 3 ā€¦ a Republican political operative and a politically connected charter-school executive laid out an explosive proposal for [Wimberley] ISD. Apparently, the plan had been in the works for months and had been vetted by the outgoing superintendent. ā€¦ One of the authors of the plan was Aaron Harris, a Fort Worthā€“based GOP consultant who has made a name for himself by stokingā€”with scant evidenceā€”fears of widespread voter fraud. In June, he cofounded a nonprofit called Texans for Education Rights Institute, along with Monty Bennett, a wealthy Dallas hotelier who dabbles in what he regards as education reform. The other author was Kalese Whitehurst, an executive with the charter school chain Responsive Education Solutions, based in Lewisville, a half hour north of Dallas.ā€ Read more