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Candidates for KISD board participate in forum
By VALERIE JONES
Four candidates running for either Position 3 or Position 5 on the Klein ISD Board of Trustees answered prepared questions as well as questions from the audience at a candidate forum Thursday night at Klein High School.
Marc William Margolis is running against incumbent Jim Smith for Position 3, Jean Casagrande and Ronnie Anderson are vying for Position 5 and Position 4 incumbent Steve Szymczak is running unopposed, therefore he did not participate in the forum.
All candidates seemed knowledgeable and had a vested interest in the district.
Casagrande, who also serves on the district’s bond steering committee, stated her top three priorities for Klein ISD were to be smart and effective with the use of bond money; address the diversity challenges with changing demographics; and to effectively use technology.
Anderson stated his three priorities for the district were the same platform on which he was running: students, teachers and taxpayers.
Smith said as a board member, he would like to focus on policy governance.
“Once the board sets goals for the district, it becomes the responsibility of the superintendent and administration to go forward with it however they see fit,” he said.
Margolis wants the district to be better stewards of its money, and said though he thinks extracurricular activities are extremely important, he feels Klein ISD spends exorbitantly on some of its extracurricular activities.
The 2008 bond was another topic that came up at the forum, not surprisingly. The Klein ISD Bond of 2008 was controversial in that it somewhat divided the voters in the district.
Of the four candidates, Anderson and Smith voted in favor of the bond.
Smith said it was a tough time to go out for a bond, though he was in favor of it. If the district had waited and tried to get a bond passed now, he said it would put the district in an even more difficult situation.
Margolis and Casagrande both said they did not vote in favor of the 2008 bond.
Casagrande said though she felt every individual project in the bond had merit, she still felt the final cost was too high.
“I did not vote for the bond because I felt it was too much money to ask our voters staring in the face of a recession,” she said.
One audience member question was focused on the issue of addressing the district’s diversity - how could it be addressed effectively if there are no minority members on the board and currently one woman?
Margolis admitted that would be a tough issue to address. Smith said everyone he’s seen serve on the board has a heart for students and that it doesn’t make a difference what color they may be.
Marc William Margolis is running against incumbent Jim Smith for Position 3, Jean Casagrande and Ronnie Anderson are vying for Position 5 and Position 4 incumbent Steve Szymczak is running unopposed, therefore he did not participate in the forum.
All candidates seemed knowledgeable and had a vested interest in the district.
Casagrande, who also serves on the district’s bond steering committee, stated her top three priorities for Klein ISD were to be smart and effective with the use of bond money; address the diversity challenges with changing demographics; and to effectively use technology.
Anderson stated his three priorities for the district were the same platform on which he was running: students, teachers and taxpayers.
Smith said as a board member, he would like to focus on policy governance.
“Once the board sets goals for the district, it becomes the responsibility of the superintendent and administration to go forward with it however they see fit,” he said.
Margolis wants the district to be better stewards of its money, and said though he thinks extracurricular activities are extremely important, he feels Klein ISD spends exorbitantly on some of its extracurricular activities.
The 2008 bond was another topic that came up at the forum, not surprisingly. The Klein ISD Bond of 2008 was controversial in that it somewhat divided the voters in the district.
Of the four candidates, Anderson and Smith voted in favor of the bond.
Smith said it was a tough time to go out for a bond, though he was in favor of it. If the district had waited and tried to get a bond passed now, he said it would put the district in an even more difficult situation.
Margolis and Casagrande both said they did not vote in favor of the 2008 bond.
Casagrande said though she felt every individual project in the bond had merit, she still felt the final cost was too high.
“I did not vote for the bond because I felt it was too much money to ask our voters staring in the face of a recession,” she said.
One audience member question was focused on the issue of addressing the district’s diversity - how could it be addressed effectively if there are no minority members on the board and currently one woman?
Margolis admitted that would be a tough issue to address. Smith said everyone he’s seen serve on the board has a heart for students and that it doesn’t make a difference what color they may be.
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