BISD FORUM QUESTIONS - JONATHAN OWENS, DISTRICT 5

1. Integrity is a way of life. Provide specific examples of how you have lived with integrity in
your professional and private life.

I could not agree more with the statement in this question that integrity is in fact a way of
life. It is not something that comes and goes but something that must be constant to
truly be called integrity. In my personal life, I have practiced integrity throughout my
educational career all the way from elementary school to my completion of college by
both working hard and by committing to use my own knowledge and skills and not by
stealing the work of others. In my professional career I have done the same. There
have been a couple of instances in my career when I have made mistakes which had
repercussions. I could have tried to take an easier way out by attempting to place blame
or by making excuses, but I chose to take responsibility for my failures and as a result I
was able to learn valuable lessons from those mistakes.

2. What do you plan to do to prevent the same problems from reoccurring within BISD and the
School Board?

While I do not think it is positive to dwell on the past and the troubles we have faced, I do
believe that we should learn from our mistakes and enact policies to make sure that we
do not make those same mistakes again. For example, in the past unqualified people
were put into high ranking positions within the finance department of the district. We
should have robust personnel policies and job requirements and those should be audited
periodically to ensure jobs are being filled by qualified staff. Also, we should have strong
checks and balances in place so that no individual or groups of individuals may
misappropriate funds or make decisions which go unchecked. In addition, I believe that
going forward we should use the principles of honesty, accountability and transparency
to guide our decisions to help ensure we dont make any new mistakes.

3. As a student who has experienced and seen a tragic flaw with education at my high school,
how will you make sure behavior issues, in schools, are not interfering with academic studies for
all students?

I have heard from numerous teachers, parents and students that discipline issues are
greatly impacting our classrooms. Our district has recently implemented a Safe a Civil
Schools program which aims to improve classroom management of behavior issues, not
through traditional discipline methods but by being proactive and using positive behavior
support strategies. Programs like this have a strong track record when they are properly
implemented and given time to take hold. I think this is great first step in the right
direction for our district to bring order and learning back to our classrooms. I also think
that by providing our students with educational opportunities that are relevant to their
lives we can engage more students who will in turn chose to excel rather than chose to
be a distraction in the classroom.
4. What regrets, if any, do you have of the way business was conducted by the past board of
trustees? If elected and serve what would you do differently?

While I was not a part of the past board, as a citizen of this community I regret how it
seemed the board did not want to listen to the community. The past board almost
seemed to make decisions simply in spite of the wishes of its constituents. If I am
elected to the board I want to be a part of a board that is honest, that is accountable, that
is transparent in its actions and decisions and a board who really tries to be in tune with
the community by soliciting both input and feedback. I think that these fundamental, yet
simple principles are the differences we need to see in our newly elected school board.

5. What qualifies you to make policy decisions about education?

My desire to do what is right and to do it for all students is what qualifies me the most to
make decisions regarding education. Educational decisions are not difficult when the
motivation behind each and every decision is to ensure that we are providing the best
educational opportunities to all of our students. I readily admit that my background is not
education but I also recognize that the strongest part of any childs education is the
opportunities that they are afforded. My understanding of this critical idea is what I
believe qualifies me to make educational decisions in the best interests of all of our
students.

6. How will you make the district better? What changes will you make?

There are many changes that I think our district needs but I think that three stand out in
my mind. First and foremost, we have to ensure that our primary focus is educating
students. The school board does have vital secondary fiscal and legal roles but our
primary focus must be educating students. Secondly, I think we need to create a culture
throughout our district that will attract some of the best and brightest teachers to come
and be a part of our district. We do have many great teachers already but it is no secret
that we need more. Finally, the third most important thing I think we need to do is
ensure the educational opportunities that we are providing our students are relevant to
their lives. For younger children this means reaching them at 3 and 4 years of age
through Head Start and Pre-Kindergarten programs to make sure they enter school at 5
years old on a level playing field. On the other end of the spectrum we need to make
sure our students at the high school level are getting not just college readiness programs
but also programs like technical certifications and dual credit programs towards an
associates degree. Programs such as these are relevant in the lives of our students
who may not chose to pursue a four-year degree.

7. Which schools have the highest numbers of Spanish speaking students? Are their needs
being met?

While I am not acutely familiar with the topic of this question, I was able to research and
find on the BISD website that the two elementary schools with the highest percentage of
Hispanic students are Caldwood and Fletcher elementary. Those two campuses
respectively have 48.5% and 88.5% of their populations designated as Hispanic. This
would suggest that these two campuses also have the highest numbers of Spanish
speakers. From what I have heard talking with teachers and parents, we have do have
 shortcomings in our ESL and bilingual programs. Consequently, it would make the most
sense to focus our improvements in ESL services on these campuses. Also, these two
campuses would also give us the best opportunity to evaluate our current position and
determine the areas we may be failing to meet the needs of ESL students.

8. BISD doesnt have enough bilingual staff, what would you do to attract more qualified
bilingual personnel?

I think that we need to create a culture within our district that attracts teachers and
administrators of all backgrounds, not just bilingual personnel. However, I have heard
from many parents and students that one of our biggest needs is in the bilingual
education that we are able to provide. If we cannot create a district where teachers want
to come and work then any other attempts to recruit new teachers will not be as
successful. So, first and foremost I think we have to create a culture that will attract
many teachers to BISD, including bilingual teachers. One creative idea we might try is
to offer incentives for existing teachers to become trained to provide bilingual services.

9. What are your thoughts on all the drug and alcohol abuse in our kids?

Drug and alcohol abuse is a problem with tremendous societal impact and even more so
when it is occurring in our children. The job of the school district is first and foremost to
educate its students but that education should not just be limited to reading, writing and
arithmetic. I believe that whenever possible we should make an attempt to educate the
whole child by working to instill values in our students like honesty, integrity and hard
work. In keeping with this theme I also believe we should be proactive in educating our
students about drugs and alcohol. Students who are aware of the dangers of drug and
alcohol abuse are less likely to find themselves in the midst drug or alcohol abuse later
in life.

10. Do you support ESL and bilingual education?

Absolutely! Not only do we need to have programs in place to help students learn
English but we must also work to preserve those students first language. Studies have
shown that students who are fluent in more than one language have better higher order
thinking skills. So, a student whose primary language may not be English can actually
be at an advantage if we can teach them English while also maintaining their primary
language. Outside of ESL, I think all students should be encouraged to learn a second
language. In todays global economy the value of a second language will be
immeasurable in the coming years.

11. How would you help BISD students if you win, specifically those with special needs?

There are many laws which govern special education in public schools. The aim of
those many laws is to ensure that students with special needs are given an appropriate
education based on their unique needs. BISD has had many problems related to special
education in the past but the current staff in that department have made tremendous
strides to bring our special education services back into compliance with the law. Going
forward we must continue their work and ensure our compliance. I think that continuing
 to follow the laws and guidelines regarding special education is the best way to ensure
we are effectively reaching students with special needs.

12. What is your opinion or position on limiting the number of students per classroom? Teacher/
Student ratio

As with nearly everything in education, this is regulated by law and we must first and
foremost ensure that we are in compliance with the law. For example, at present the
limit is 22 students per classroom for grades kindergarten through fourth grade. There is
no doubt that children can benefit from smaller class sizes and more one-on-one time
with teachers. I believe that whenever possible we should strive to reduce class sizes
but we must remember that smaller class sizes come at the cost of hiring additional
teachers. If we have extra resources available, I do think class size reductions would be
one of the best ways to consider spending those resources.

13. What is BISDs ranking among other Texas schools of the same size?

The 2015-2016 Texas Academic Performance Report (TAPR) for BISD shows that in
most areas our district does not perform at the average levels across the state or even
our region. There is no doubt we have great room for improvement.

14. What is the biggest change you want to make if you are elected?

The biggest change I would want to make is to make the ENTIRE community feel that
they have a school board that is working for the best interests of the community, the
best interests of the staff within the district and above all the best interests of the
students within the district. As I have repeated many times, I believe this can happen
with a board that strives to be honest, to be accountable, to be transparent in its actions
and decisions and to be in touch with the community by soliciting both input and
feedback. Our community deserves a school board and district that is revenant to all of
its constituents.

15. What is your position on transgender bathrooms?

As I have said to many other questions, we must first and foremost ensure that we are in
compliance with the law. The issue of transgender bathrooms is no different. This is an
important topic at present and legislation regarding this issue seems to be changing
almost daily. Specific to BISD, the Texas Privacy Bill or SB6 just this year was passed
in the state senate and is now awaiting a vote in the Texas House. If passed, we would
be bound to abide by the regulations in that bill. The school board would have a
responsibility to follow those laws and ensure that our local policies do not conflict with
the law. We must remember that the school board is neither a law making nor a law
enforcing body. The school board may enact only local polices and those may in no way
conflict with state or federal laws.

16. Sitting on the board, what is your stance on protecting both students and parents from ICE
entering school and terrorizing our undocumented community?
 As I stated in my answer at the forum at Cristo Rey, however unfortunate the situation
may be there is absolutely nothing that the school district or school board can do when
the topic is immigration. The school board is neither a law making nor a law enforcing
body. The school board can only make local policies and those policies can in no way
interfere with state or federal laws. Immigration law is federal law and we must follow
and in no way interfere with those laws.

17. As a student who has had more than 5 teachers in a single subject during 1 semester, I
would like to know how you will assure every classroom is receiving adequate education with
excelling teachers.

I agree that we must attract talented and dedicated teachers to our district. It is no
secret that the quality of the faculty and staff in the district have suffered in recent years.
With the chaos and uncertainty our district has faced, many of our best teachers chose
to retire or to leave our district for another. This has left a void in leadership, dedication
and ability in many areas of our district. However, I applaud the scores of dedicated
teachers who have chosen to stick by BISD through these tough times. My vision is to
to create a culture from the top down that will attract some of the best and brightest
faculty and staff to come and be apart of BISD. I firmly believe that the creation of this
culture must start at the very top with the board of trustees and I am personally
committed to leading this so that we can create a welcoming and attractive environment
for all faculty and staff in our district.

18. It is believed by some that having paid parent coordinators on high economic disadvantages
campuses helps to get parents involved, if there is merit to this thinking, if elected will you
address this matter?

This is a concept I am not familiar with but it intrigues me. I believe that parent and
community involvement can tremendously enhance education but I also know that
getting that involvement, particularly at economically disadvantaged campuses, can be
quite challenging. If there are case studies or research that show spending money on
parent coordinators can make a difference then I would be in favor of taking on the task,
perhaps as a pilot program to see if it can work within our district as well.

19. If elected will you work on a plan to attract and retain highly qualified teachers in high
economically disadvantages schools?

Yes, I would definitely work on this as I believe or greatest opportunities exist in our
disadvantaged students. Our current superintendent has already enacted a policy
aimed at helping achieve this goal. Our district policy is that new teachers who apply do
not apply for just one specific position at one specific campus. Rather, new teachers are
asked to agree to be placed where the district deems they are needed most. I think this
is a powerful first step to ensure our disadvantaged campuses have great teachers and
principals. Not only does this give the district discretion to place teachers were they feel
that they are most needed, but it also creates a culture that shows our district is serious
about using our most precious resources, our teachers, in the places where they are
needed the most.
20. How close are the school trustees to actually handling the money, do they write checks and
pay the bills?

Trustees should have no physical contact with any monies. All bills, checks, etc. are to
be handled by employees of the districts finance department. When it comes to
finances, the role of the trustees is only in oversight of the districts money and there
should be no direct contact by trustees.

21. What is the difference in the role of the trustee and that of the superintendent?

The trustees and the superintendent must work together very closely but their roles are
also quite different. The superintendents full-time job is the day-to-day operation of the
school district. A superintendent has had years of training in education and
administration so that he/she can fulfill a very important management role within the
district. Conversely, the trustees are not involved in the daily business of the district but
rather they should function as an oversight committee or governing body for the district.
The trustees should set the vision and the goals that they would like to see the district
accomplish and then hold the superintendent accountable to implementing and
achieving those goals.

22. What ideas do you have of how to make sure that all schools are equitable not equal?

Every school is unique in its makeup of students and staff and therefore each school is
also unique with regard to its needs. First and foremost we must remember that the
bulk of funding in public education is dictated by law. However, I do believe that when
there are discretionary funds that they should be distributed based on the needs of
students in an attempt to distribute those resources equitably, where they are most
needed.

23. For those of you with children and grandchildren here in Beaumont, What school/schools do
your children currently attend?

I do not have any children and therefor do not have any children or grandchildren in
BISD.