School Marshal Program

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[RoyGBiv]

FWIW, I'll post this here and not start a new thread.

I didn't get to read my question (didn't think I would, so I had a short version prepared). Turns out all questions had to be handed in and read by the moderator, so, I was ahead of the game.

When the question was asked, it was done with little qualification. I'm fairly certain that the majority of candidates did not know any details about the program. They heard "School Marshal" and in their minds eye saw "Federal Air Marshal". Here's how they responded..

Place 4
~~~~~~~~
Craig Allen (Incumbent) : Against (in favor of armed officers, but not teachers)
Ed Allen: Qualified Yes... Wants to be sure there's "sufficient training".
Michael Goolsby: Unequivocal Yes. (Exactly what I would hope from a Marine with combat experience [Afghanistan])

Place 5
~~~~~~
Jim Joros: Against (former KISD principal)
Shane Hardin & Jo Lynn Haussman: Qualified Yes - With Training
Terry King: Not present (family emergency out of town)

Unfortunately, I did not get to explore reasoning or do any redirect.

Afterward I spoke at some length with several candidates on other issues.
Goolsby is a straight shooter. Likely to be a burr under the saddle with other board members. I addressed this with him rather directly on-on-one and was satisfied that his contention would be kept constructive. He's a "focus on the basics" guy too... No ponds and artwork until every student has text books they can take home if needed... He also has lots of business experience. I'll be voting for Goolsby for place 4.

I think C Allen (incumbent) and E Allen were both qualified guys (other than Craigs objection to arming trained volunteers). I wish one of them was running for place 5, because I didn't find anyone I wanted to vote for in place 5.

Hardin is a Democrat and staunchly against school vouchers. I pressed him one-on-one and his strongest reason was (paraphrasing) "if parents can afford to pay the difference between the voucher and what it costs to go to private school, they can afford to pay the whole thing". I made several very succinct arguments against that ridiculous reasoning and we eventually agreed to disagree. No way I'll be voting for a statist.

Haussman was the well-intended grandmother, a very pleasant woman, but did not strike me as a competent administrator. I might hire her to teach grade school, but not run the system. Good intentions are not the same as having the skills to reach goals. Just my opinion.

Joros seemed to be a well reasoned dedicated public servant, but I don't see him thinking outside the box he's developed over a full career in education. I can see him working to fix things incrementally and be a good voice for teachers. Unfortunately Terry King was absent, so, Joros is my current (reluctant) favorite for place 5.

I did have the chance to chat with our Superintendent after the meeting. Myself, Mr. Goolsby and Super. Reid. Of course I asked him whether he'll support the Marshal program and he was an unequivocal "No". He of course will support it if the Board tells him to do it, but he will recommend against it at every turn. So, I asked "Why" and he gave the the same "blood in the streets" (my words) answer that every anti gives. "I am a gun owner" he said . I pointed out that there's been no blood in the streets since the CHL program was implemented and he came back with (paraphrasing) "teachers will crack under pressure and innocent kids will get shot" and (again paraphrasing) "the kids will know who the Marshals are, and that will expose their guns to tampering" (very paraphrased, actually). I gave him what I thought was solid reasoning against those concerns, but it fell on deaf ears. He feels it's better to wait for police. He went on to point out that most school shooters commit suicide, and Mr. Goolsby and I both pointed out that the sooner you can bring counter-force to bear, the sooner the shooting will end. To no avail.

In the end, I offered to make a bet with him... That in 10 years if he's right, I'll host his Superbowl party... and if I'm right he'll do the same for me... He declined (more like didn't reply directly).

So... Goolsby for place 4
Reluctantly Joros for place 5, unless I can find more to like about King in the next few weeks.

Sorry for the somewhat off topic content here... If you're in Keller ISD and have a specific question, might be best to PM me rather than stray further off topic.

Cheers.

[RoyGBiv]

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