COMMUNITY IMPACT NEWSPAPER ELECTION GUIDE:

The Community Impact Newspaper, you know, the one that has a new editor just about every month, is, in  my opinion a shill for the school district. The school district doesn't offer them advertising, but the paper prints KISD press releases at will and places them prominently.  In return all the KISD vendors advertise with them.  Works out well for all of them, in my opinion.

In their very early May edition, there is a "local election guide" for the school board race.

Joe Adams, 27 year incumbent board member, has lots to say that I question.

Mr. Adams says, "I love our district and want the very best for all of our students."

     I have to question his desire to want the very best for all of our students.  If that were true, he would have done more over the years to make sure all of them could read and do basic math when they graduate as about 40 percent of them cannot do those two things as they leave KISD.

Mr. Adams says, "I have years of best practices and knowledge to apply that will help the district maintain and improve the educational process."

      Anyone know what that means? Mr. Adams has been speaking "educatorese" way too long. What are "best practices" in relation to anything that Mr. Adams could possibly have been doing in the last 27 years?  And what is "educational process"?  Oh yeah--that's all the stupid folderol that is substituted by the Katy school district in place of plain old academic teaching and learning.  And you can bet Mr. Adams is good at voting every chance he gets for that junk instead of for what they should be doing.

Mr. Adams says, "I would like to see us continue to pay off our debt ahead of schedule with more refinancing, which will hopefully result in us lowering our debt tax rate, like we did last year."

      Mr. Adams hasn't a clue about the financial meanderings of the Katy school district.  I know that from serving with him.  And he cannot even state here what it is he's trying to tell us.  It's the "debt service tax rate" Mr. Adams!  That rate was lowered by a penny last year. They lowered it so they could claim that they lowered it. It was a stupid move because Katy ISD is facing all sorts of state required actions that will need more funding--such as to satisfy the law that requires that the District provide cameras to monitor all the daily activities of any Special Education student whose parent requests it.  Brian Michalsky was the only Board Member smart enough to vote against the cut.  Michalsky is a CPA.

     Mr. Adams says "Katy is an outstanding district and we know best what is best for our students."  Not sure what one can say about such an astute observation by Mr. Adams.  I'll just let it stand on its merits.

     Mr. Adams says "House Bill 1842 [and I urge everyone to go here:  http://www.legis.state.tx.us/tlodocs/84R/billtext/pdf/HB01842F.pdf#navpanes=0 and read how utterly useless this bill is!  I've read a lot of bills in my day, but this one is definitely designed to obfuscate the real reasons for its existence] allows eligible districts to become "Districts of Innovation" through a board resolution or petition from a District Advisory Council, followed by public hearing and  board vote."  Obviously Mr. Adams hasn't a clue what this bill is really about or what it will do to our schools.  They are getting ready to change everything so it's even worse than it is now.  And just for fun they are going to put a student on the School Board!  Mr. Adams wouldn't know "innovation" if he stepped in it. Every parent needs to pay attention to the "District of Innovation" malarkey.

Mr. Adams says "We will closely monitor the ruling on the state funding lawsuit."  Just so you know, Katy ISD has joined with other Districts to sue the state and demand that they get more money.  That has several manifestations.  First, more money means YOU get to pay more taxes.  That's the only way the State has more money.  Secondly, if as Mr. Adams says-- that KISD has so much money and that they have been "under budget annually for several years" so that they lowered the debt service rate last year, why would KISD join in this lawsuit? Doesn't sound to me like the District needs more money. Whatever money they get, they will spend, and past actions prove that! The Board had to vote to join this lawsuit, so Mr. Adams is on record for that.

Mr. Adams mentions the District's "demographic projections" and suggests that he uses them to "monitor our spend rate on these projects and ... to prepare for the next phase of buildings that need to be built"

I would question that last statement as I don't think Mr. Adams or the rest of the Board has paid a bit of attention to the "demographic projections" of our school district. Last October (2015) the District's demographer, Ms. Guseman, came and told the Board that the number of new students coming to Katy ISD each year from now on would be 2,000.  No one anywhere made much of that statement, but I was shocked by it.  Only a year prior to that statement she was predicting that 3,000 new students were coming each year!!!!  That's what the superintendent based his bond recommendations on --you know the part about where we needed all kinds of new schools everywhere, another bigger stadium, and more buses and portable buildings to sit around.  Not one person said a word about a 33% drop in the number of new students coming to KISD every year.  Actually KISD hadn't had 3,000 new students show up since 2008. 

It sure would be nice, if someone, maybe Joe Adams, checked the facts every now and then.