Donald Murphy Guillory

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Donald Murphy Guillory

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Nonpartisan

Elections and appointments

Last election

November 2, 2021

Personal

Profession

Automobiles

Contact

Personal Facebook

Donald Murphy Guillory ran for election to the Alief Independent School District to represent Position 5 in Texas. He lost in the general election on November 2, 2021.

Biography

Guillory spent 44 years working in the automotive business before retiring in 2017. After retiring, he began working as a photographer and filmmaker, including working as a showrunner, producer, and editor. As of the 2017 election, Guillory was attending Houston Community College. He has been associated with the Knights of Columbus. He served in the U.S. Army as a community relations soldier.

Elections

2021

See also: Alief Independent School District, Texas, elections (2021)

General election

General election for Alief Independent School District, Position 5

Harvey Anh Tong defeated Donald Murphy Guillory and Randal Stewart in the general election for Alief Independent School District, Position 5 on November 2, 2021.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Submit photo	Harvey Anh Tong (Nonpartisan)	45.2	2,407
	Submit photo	Donald Murphy Guillory (Nonpartisan)	29.1	1,551
	Submit photo	Randal Stewart (Nonpartisan)	25.6	1,363

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 5,321
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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2019

See also: Alief Independent School District, Texas, elections (2019)

General election

General election for Alief Independent School District, Position 1

Incumbent Lily Truong defeated Donald Murphy Guillory in the general election for Alief Independent School District, Position 1 on November 5, 2019.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Lily Truong (Nonpartisan)	60.7	6,301
	Submit photo	Donald Murphy Guillory (Nonpartisan)	39.3	4,076

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 10,377
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

2017

See also: Alief Independent School District elections (2017)

Four of seven seats on the Alief Independent School District board of trustees in Texas were up for at-large general election on November 7, 2017. No incumbents filed for re-election, leaving four open seats and guaranteeing newcomers would make up a majority of the board.

In Position 4, newcomer Darlene Breaux defeated newcomer Jesus Zamora. Newcomer John Nguyen defeated newcomer Donald Murphy Guillory in the race for the Position 5 seat. The Position 6 seat drew newcomers Anton Dowls and Jennifer Key, with Key defeating Dowls. In Position 7, Natasha Butler defeated Janet Spurlock, and Soren Valverde

Results

Alief Independent School District, Position 5 General Election, 4-year term, 2017
Candidate	Vote %	Votes
John Nguyen	58.85%	1,829
Donald Murphy Guillory	41.15%	1,279
Total Votes		3,108
Source: Harris County, Texas, "Cumulative Report - Official," accessed November 22, 2017

Campaign themes

2021

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Donald Murphy Guillory did not complete Ballotpedia's 2021 Candidate Connection survey.

2019

Donald Murphy Guillory completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2019. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Guillory's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

Expand all | Collapse all

What would be your top three priorities, if elected?

Bring our students encourage ways to learn the lesson plans daily all of our students. Used science, innovative psychology teaching techniques that encourage them to want to learn. Use as much virtual reality science to stimulate their senses to want what we offer which is knowledge to succeed in the world. Bring the thirty plus schools in our system that have very low grades up to Texas and national standards in four years or less.

Work on the transportation of our students to and from school functions. Over view of route movements with more of school police escort random to keep a close eye on our children and encourage our bus driver we are here to help get the everyone home safely.

Build a new Crump Football stadium. Its time to be honest here Crump is a home to many athletes who have gone on to great success in life . It has served to teach many students, facility and fans what results you get when you work as a team. Well in a society that expects it board members to look to the future here is my assessment of the issue. We encourage team spirit ok but we need to put a product on the ground that is modern and functional for future generation because once done there is no make over. Our children deserve it and we are bound to give them every resource to successes. Why should we not enjoy our venues in a building that ignores the weather and provides everyone with lasting memories?

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

Mental Health and Mental Retardation MHMR. Fragile X is the root cause of Intellectual Disabilities. A gene that in multiple numbers can cause a person to develop ID and Autism. Now that is science not speculation. A person who is judged by the school district to fit this category as a student we all need to lend a helping hand here. See these students are usually withdrawn and do not like to interact too much with a student body. So we here must find techniques that may get their attention to learn. As a school board we have to serve every student in the best manner possible everyone of our students registered to go to school in our district.

Who do you look up to? Whose example would you like to follow, and why?

Barbara Jordan she was a shining example of what a great student can turn out to become. All of the disadvantages she had against her as she struggled to be a great student in school. Winning many State awards for oratory as a high school student and graduating head of her class. On to Texas Southern University to finally become a great debater. Winning numerous national awards, again graduating top of her class. On to Boston College and the struggle to success was different. For years Barbara was the best in the class and always knew the answers before everyone else, but not here. Here at Boston college she meet her equal in the world of rules that if broken subjects a party to criminal punishment or civil liability. She wanted to become a Jurist Doctor JD. This lead to a first few weeks where she had to buckle down and study all night long. She found a place in the basement of her dorm and spent manny hours down in that dingy room studying the law. She spent so much time there that one morning word was she was missing from here dorm room lead to other finding here asleep with a candle lit and her law books abound everywhere. She finished the semester with a C and was very proud to earn it. This is who I admire for the human spirit enjoys its right to have some small success, that leads to greater rewards for mankind.

Is there a book, essay, film, or something else you would recommend to someone who wants to understand your political philosophy?

Mr Smith goes to Washington.

What characteristics or principles are most important for an elected official?

Honesty, transparency, and the moral obligation to always do the right thing for all.

What qualities do you possess that you believe would make you a successful officeholder?

Honesty, transparency, and the moral obligation to always do the right thing for all.

What do you believe are the core responsibilities for someone elected to this office?

Honesty, transparency, and the moral obligation to always do the right thing for all.

What legacy would you like to leave?

In a better state of student achievement. We have far too many schools 30 that are not making the grade! We must find a solution along with our after school achievement initiatives already in place that can improve all of our student lives learning. We all know that STEMS is important to the skills needed in life as worker, owner, and scientist. They our student deserves the best and I am inclined to seek all solutions that is better of all students.

What is the first historical event that happened in your lifetime that you remember? How old were you at the time?

I was a photographer in The United Staes Army Warner Barracks with the 52 Infantry

What was your very first job? How long did you have it?

I held my first job as a United States soldier.

What happened on your most awkward date?

I showed up in the wrong attire!

What is your favorite holiday? Why?

Christmas because simply I am a Catholic.

What is your favorite book? Why?

The Autobiography of Malcolm X. It is a story of a man journey from being a habitual criminal, going to prison converting to Islam and returning to society as a human rights activist who spearheaded pride, black nationalism, and Pan-africanism. He lead many converts to firmly believe what he profess as right. In the end his movement affected too many lives and evil had a hand in his death.

If you could be any fictional character, who would you want to be?

Spaceman so I could travel the stars, find answers for humanity to survive.

What is your favorite thing in your home or apartment? Why?

My work as a Film Maker and Writer.

What was the last song that got stuck in your head?

Otis Redding "Sitting by the dock in the bay."

What is something that has been a struggle in your life?

The Holy Spirit!

What is the primary job of a school board member in your view?

Find solutions to improve the quality of our student s lives and achievements.

Who are your constituents?

Citizens in the Alief ISD area.

How would you support the diverse needs of your district’s students, faculty, staff, and community?

Get to know the students, parents, and administrators. Try to build an environment to foster progress in all academic areas as possible, immediately! Never forget that MHMR students need special attention and we must provide the best we can offer.

How will you build relationships with members of the broader community? Which groups, organizations, stakeholders will you specifically target?

I will just try to take care of the school district first. See thats why I am running I only want to help improve who we are "the students of progress in Alief ISD."

What will you do to build a better relationship with parents in the district? What plans do you have to be inclusive of parental involvement?

More town meetings to get input for the parents, students, and anyone wishing to give input to improvement of our great school district!

Do you believe it is important to intentionally recruit with the aim of diversifying the district’s faculty, staff, and administration? If so, what would be your policy to achieve this?

We send the best recruiters we have to college campuses looking for the teacher or research teacher we need. Assign them each the objectives we wish to accomplish. Our moral outcome should be after two years of planned sustain work, we should see improvements better than expected. This only works if we get the right recruits. The teachers who are very committed to using best technical advances in their field study and our best to offer in staff and support that can make success happen. One thing for sure Alief has 30 schools with poor ratings we need do something quickly to change this course. I do not wish to see no one student left behind because of poor support on our end as teachers, administrators and board members.

What issues get in the way of quality education? How would you address these obstacles?

1.Lack of funding for a program. To curtail success before it can take growth. You lose all that progress you may have made.

2.Having more students than teachers. There is low funding, large population of students and not enough schools makes for a catch 22 on any schools district.
3.Being the wrong gender can provoke some hardship, and bullying that could result in complicated situations, we must find ways to support people victims of these abuses.

4. Children with disabilities, we need to double our effort here to give the best care possible as prescribe by law and humanity.

What constitutes good teaching? How will you measure this? How will you support advanced teaching approaches?

Good education is value education. ... A good education is based on a system that make student think better.A good education is when it could increase a child's creativity help them enjoy studying and help them through education in their future. Hopefully a good education helps them socialize or communicate with others to where they work as a team to attain a value. We need to build lasting value in the education. Teach students to solve problems using conventional means of understanding the problem find a solution then project a answer.

What type of skills should students be learning for success in the 21st century?

Mathematics, Science, second languages, concept of basic medical life. The building blocks to a formal understanding of life , nature, and the universe. Give them our students

How might you improve the value of a high school diploma? What should a 21st century diploma reflect?

By getting students to graduate high school with an associate degree. This gives them instant opportunities for a job. Also foster a environment of success to get a complete 4 year degree.

In what areas would you like to expand curriculum? For example, do you see a need for advanced technical training or apprenticeships? What sort of innovative programming would you advance if given the opportunity?

The American workforce is changing. We have huge manufacturing opportunities available. Many firms moving back to America in need ok skilled manpower. We need to monitor the emerging technical work available and be assured our student have the tools to apply and land these fortune 500 company jobs as they emerge. Also recruit those same technical companies to locate in our district the jobs and their operations.

What strategies or plans would you advance to ensure the schools are properly funded?

Monitor the budget make sure we are getting our fair share of funds by taxes and what federal and state grants available. Also explore the possibility of private and public grants of fortune 500 companies!

What principles drive your policies for safety in schools?

I alway advocated for the best police force in our school district. We all need to get more training for the men and women who protect our children. We also need to make sure we have all the seat belts on our buses we should.

How might you support the mental health needs of students/faculty/staff?

Promote social means to find answers that can promote ideas that inform students, parents and educators on the symptoms mental health.

What role do you imagine technology playing in (and outside) the classroom in the future? How would you prepare the district for this?

We already made strides in this area with virtual reality labs in our schools. What we need is to tailor the needs of work force manpower and secondary education to produce a student proficient in math science and a secondary language.

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

2017

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's school board candidate survey

Donald murphy Guillory participated in Ballotpedia's 2017 survey of school board candidates. In response to the question "What do you hope to achieve if elected to the school board?" the candidate stated on October 26, 2017:

“

Great Education Harmony Safe environment for kids. Best Buses.

”

Ranking the issues

The candidate was asked to rank the following issues based on how they should be prioritized by the school board, with 1 being the most important and 7 being the least important. Each ranking could only be used once.

Education policy
Click here to learn more about education policy in Texas.
Education on the ballot

Issue importance ranking
Candidate's ranking	Issue
1	Expanding school choice options
2	Expanding arts education
3	Balancing or maintaining the district's budget
4	Improving education for special needs students
5	Improving relations with teachers
6	Blank
7	Blank

Positions on the issues

The candidate was asked to answer eight questions from Ballotpedia regarding significant issues in education and the school district. The questions are highlighted in blue and followed by the candidate's responses. Some questions provided multiple choices, which are noted after those questions. The candidate was also provided space to elaborate on their answers to the multiple choice questions.

Should new charter schools be approved in your district? (Not all school boards are empowered to approve charter schools. In those cases, the candidate was directed to answer the question as if the school board were able to do so.)
No.
Which statement best describes the ideal relationship between the state government and the school board? The state should always defer to school board decisions, defer to school board decisions in most cases, be involved in the district routinely or only intervene in severe cases of misconduct or mismanagement.
The state should only intervene in severe cases of misconduct or mismanagement.
Are standardized tests an accurate metric of student achievement?
No.
How should the district handle underperforming teachers? Terminate their contract before any damage is done to students, offer additional training options, put them on a probationary period while they seek to improve or set up a mentorship program for the underperforming teacher with a more experienced teacher in the district?
Set up a mentorship program for the underperforming teacher with a more experienced teacher in the district.
Should teachers receive merit pay?
Yes.
Should the state give money to private schools through a voucher system or scholarship program?
No.
How should expulsion be used in the district?
Case by case.
What's the most important factor for success in the classroom: student-teacher ratio, the curriculum, teachers, parent involvement or school administration?
Teachers.

Guillory provided the following description of his political philosophy to Ballotpedia: "Good Choices for our Students."

He added:

“	Donald Murphy Guillory is 63 years old. U.S. Army 1972/1974. Forty four years in Automobile business retired 2017. Current student in Houston Community College System. Technical communications is the specialty. Commercial Television projects include a local Chevrolet dealership “No Payment Event,” A five star Gyro four restaurant operation. Documentaries that are in production works include local events that impact the community, much still in editing. This 2017 year has primarily devoted in shooting events to establish a film brand. The Alief I.S.D. has been Donald’s home for twenty plus years. Donald’s daughter Kelly Guillory graduated from Alief Elsik High School Go Rams! Film is the work Donald is engaged in today. During Donald’s time in the Army he learn techniques to develop emulsion film, write short stories for the soldier folks back home along with photographs. Today Donald spends his time in Creation of subjects that conflict and resolution are highlighted make good 10 to 30 second TV commercials. The key is get the customer to remember your product. This work’s ideally well for many major fortune 500 companies results. Donald professional career as a film maker is for business in that market. Fishing is natural to Donald and as results the family maintains as fishing boat for recreation! There is no boundaries for Donald he loves the outdoors and is a professional photographer by training many years. Film is Donald’s future work as Executive producer or a Show Runner. Donald should graduate this May 2018 with an Associates in Technical Communications film, as the discipline. Donald Murphy Guillory will continue studies locally at the University of Houston Sugar Land Texas. The rest is future!	”
—Donald Murphy Guillory, October 23, 2017

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