Five candidates up for two Jarrell ISD board seats

Five candidates are vying for two places on the Jarrell ISD Board of Trustees in the November 11 election. Places 5 and 7 are on the ballot.

Candidates for Place 5 are incumbent Tamara Dozier and Humberto Carbajal. In Place 7, candidates are incumbent Rebecca Kirby, Ginger Martinez and Sherry K. Roark. Both incumbents were first elected in 2019.

An election for Place 4 was canceled because incumbent Dave Lovelace was unopposed.

JISD trustees serve for overlapping terms of three years each. Elections are conducted annually in November.

Jarrell ISD is a single member district and there are no at large positions. A trustee district map can be viewed at www.jarrellisd.org/cms/one.aspx?portalId= 20996538&pageId=21220650 Four of the five candidates provided the Sun with written responses to the following questions. Place 7 candidate Ginger Martinez did not respond to the Sun’s request.

What are JISD's biggest challenges at this time?

Humberto Carbajal, Place 5 — I believe that the biggest challenges at this time are how we deal with growth in our town and the impact of the Covid-19 on our young learners. For over 10 years, Jarrell has grown exponentially. It’s getting to the point now where we can’t build schools fast enough to teach our students, which leads to a crowded classroom. I think as a district we can do a better job at forecasting and getting the right plan in place to better support this community. At the same time, we have to realize that the two years of Covid-19 cost our students valuable time in the classroom. Some of those students were in crucial stages in their lives where learning to read would be the foundation of all future instruction. Our task now is, how do we target that age group to make sure they have been caught up and that their past needs have been met.

Tamara Dozier, Place 5 — Some of the biggest challenges are the growth that we are experiencing. We are doing our best to stay ahead of the growth, preparing and studying what we will need to keep the positive momentum going.

Rebecca Kirby, Place 7 — JISD’s biggest challenge involves our community’s rapid growth triggered by new home construction and the city’s appealing location with amazing schools. As a current member of the JISD Board of Trustees, I can assure you fast growth is consistently a prioritized topic for discussion and planning. JISD hit historic numbers in growth increasing student enrollment by 25 percent last year and we are projected to grow an additional 25 percent this year. With the decreased supply of construction materials and labor, it has been challenging, but because of our planning and relationships with our contracted providers, we have repeatedly been ahead of schedule and, in doing so, saved tax dollars. With the newest growth projections and the City of Jarrell continuously approving development, we cannot build fast enough. A 10-year master plan is in place with additional committees planning even further out. A demographer’s report is provided to trustees twice a year to make sure we stay abreast of the ongoing changes in our community. My hope as a re-elected trustee is to continue to build those strong positive solution-focused relationships that will only lead our district to success. We must unite as a community and work together and plan together to build the district our students deserve and love. I do not want to ignore the importance of school safety. This is a topic our district discusses and evaluates monthly. We recently passed a TEA security check with flying colors, and I am proud to announce that achievement. We can never be too safe when it comes to protecting our precious children and staff. They deserve to feel safe because that is when we learn best. Retention is also a factor our district is addressing. Across Texas, teacher retention is at the forefront of discussion. The teaching profession is in danger due to the number of expectations that have been placed upon them by our State leaders. As a board member and community member, I will continue to advocate for our teachers and public schools. I will advocate to support professional development, additional positions and higher pay with a realistic workload. The well-being and mental health of our professional school staff play a large role in the success of our students and our future.

Sherry Roark, Place 7 — Growth. We are growing at a rapid pace. Growth ties into the issues with transportation and teacher retention so it is our biggest challenge. As we grow, we need teachers that are here to build a career. I believe this goes back to what I said about being present in the school. Until we do our research, and I do not mean ask a couple questions, we need to be there, listen to our faculty and develop a plan. It is time to rebuild, we cannot wait to do this. Our new elementary is being built to hold 900 kids. We have already added 100 kids since school started. We need to plan for our future, we are adding band aids. We are projected to have over 4,500 students in our schools in 2023. This growth will tremendously affect everything in our schools. My goal is to be proactive, meet with all our city offices and develop a plan together that can be presented to our community, so everyone knows what is happening. I want to implement changes now and get ahead of the growth.

What experiences and expertise would you bring to the board?

Humberto Carbajal, Place 5 — For the last 10 years, I have seen the ins and outs of the Jarrell school district. I have been a substitute in the elementary school, middle school and high school. I also have taken long term substitute positions for life skills in the elementary and for the behavior program in the middle school, along with teaching for two years in the middle school as an English second language aide.Throughout this time I have gained a strong understanding of what can make a district effective in teaching our kids. To this day I have conversations with teachers in JISD about what is happening in the schools. I believe it is crucial information that we should have as school leaders. As I worked in the schools I saw the best and worst of education and I plan to use that to help make the right decisions for our community.

Tamara Dozier, Place 5 — Having four kids graduate from JISD and being in the district about 20 years I have seen changes, having good and bad experiences. Being a mom and volunteering through the years, I have gained much experience. Being a board member for the last three years, I have had much training and gained knowledge. With close to 500 hours of board meetings and 100+ training hours that are required, I have learned much about what the school board does and what we can do to improve the district. Being a board member requires much dedication, and I am dedicated to the Jarrell ISD family.

Rebecca Kirby, Place 7 — The expertise that I bring to the board is that I am the current incumbent for District 7. I have served over 500 hours in meetings, and almost 185 in continuing education classes or forums. To say that I am just scratching the service would be an understatement. It takes time and a lot of hard work to understand all the pieces to the district. As a parent of four children in the district who each have unique needs, I have truly had just about any experience you could think of. We moved here because we loved Jarrell’s small town feel and the many opportunities our children had to participate in activities. I have raised my four kids in the district, and I have witnessed Jarrell’s growing pains. My goal as a board of trustee and community member is to help families who move to our community feel welcome. I want students and their families to feel at home within our community and in our schools. I have served on many committees from the PTO, band boosters, little league coaching staff and served as a board representative at legislative meetings. Life experiences, committees, volunteer work and the last three years serving on the JISD board truly make me the best qualified candidate for consistency and growth. If at any time you have questions, I encourage you to reach out to me. I would love to talk and answer any questions you might have. This is truly a humbling experience that I do not take lightly and I appreciate your support.

Sherry Roark, Place 7 — As a parent who has always been involved with my children’s school success and has a child attending JISD, I feel like I can bring the knowledge from prior school districts we have attended. My background is in child development where I have worked with schools, worked as a parent/child advocate, with CASA and currently work for the Early Childhood Intervention Program for the state of Texas. We need people that are involved with our community through daily events and social media to help build that bridge and I feel like I am that person to help do that.

What do you consider JISD's greatest strengths, what makes it unique and how would you use those strengths to advance the district?

Humberto Carbajal, Place 5 — More than anything, I believe JISD's greatest strength is the community it is a part of. There are so many families in this town that go above and beyond for these schools, but I know there are so many more who are just uninformed. I truly think that if we can give the community more information on how to be involved and what we're doing, this community can help us make the right decisions for these schools. My goal is to be a true representative of this town and the children who attend these schools. I hope to be able to empower all of the Jarrell community with as much information as I can to help us make the right decisions for these schools.

Tamara Dozier, Place 5 — Some of JISD's greatest strengths are the administration and staff that we have. They are very dedicated and definitely want the best for the students and families of JISD. They have devoted their lives to the students and families and if definitely shows. When you have strong administration, teachers and staff, the possibilities are endless for the students.

Rebecca Kirby, Place 7 — Jarrell’s greatest strength is our heart. We have been small but mighty! We are a community that has a heart as blue as the Texas sky. Our community has come together to support one another during a time of need. Just recently, our community supported one another after a tornado. I am proud to say, Jarrell School leadership drives that support in bringing our community together. Our community comes together during Homecoming parades and football games and it is a beautiful sight to see. Our uniqueness is our ability to adapt and overcome challenges. We are a community that is growing at an astronomical rate, but that doesn’t mean that we must change who we are, at our core. Quite the contrary, it means that we have the privilege and honor of sharing and creating a spirit of belonging. As a board of trustee member, I support success for all.

Sherry Roark, Place 7 — Jarrell ISD is a rapidly growing community. We have people that have lived here all their lives along with people moving from many states. Community support is one of the biggest strengths we have here. It is truly a neighbor-helping-neighbor community. The community, along with the schools, want our children to succeed and they all work together. Even with the growth we are still blessed to have that home town feel and know that we are still “Jarrell” and always will be. I believe that any person that is representing our community on any board can use this to help unite this town together. I would attend meetings and events to ensure we have transparency and communication for the community. Social media is daily life now and we need to utilize this as a strength to communicate with everyone to share information. I do that now, but as part of the school board, that would give me the advantage to get feedback from our parents who are affected by school decisions and bring this back to the board for discussion.