Jerry Hall (2017 Texas school board candidate)
Jerry Hall is the former Place 4 representative on the DeSoto Independent School District school board in Texas. First elected in 2014, Hall lost a re-election campaign in the by-district general election on May 6, 2017.
Elections
2017
Three of the seven seats on the DeSoto Independent School District board of trustees were up for general election on May 6, 2017. Place 3 incumbent Karen Daniel defeated former board member Van Stripling and challengers Demetric Brown and Jeremy Woods. Tiffany Clark defeated Place 4 incumbent Jerry Hall, DeAndrea Fleming, and Krystal Denise Sams in the race for the Place 4 seat. In the race for the Place 5 seat, incumbent Aubrey Hooper defeated challengers A'Londa Barber, Laneshia Jordan, and Darrell Porter.[1][2]
Results
| DeSoto Independent School District, Place 4 General Election, 3-year term, 2017 |
||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
 Tiffany Clark |
52.45% | 1,091 |
| Jerry Hall Incumbent | 22.84% | 475 |
| DeAndrea Fleming | 16.35% | 340 |
| Krystal Denise Sams | 8.37% | 174 |
| Total Votes | 2,080 | |
| Source: Dallas County Elections, "2017 Joint Election," accessed September 20, 2017 | ||
Funding
Hall reported no contributions or expenditures to the Dallas County Elections Office as of May 1, 2017.[3]
Campaign themes
2017
Hall participated in the following survey conducted by The Dallas Morning News. The questions provided by The Dallas Morning News appear bolded, and Hall's responses follow below.
Why are you running for this office, and why should voters choose you over your opponent(s)?
| “ | I have been involved in trying to cut excess expenses, such as cabinet and superintendent travel so funds will be available for students. I want to convince enough board trustee to allow for an internal auditor to be hired reporting directly to the board of trustees. I believe we need to have a forensic audit of our district and ongoing audits. The LBB, an arm of the legislature did an assessment in 2016 and found our district lacking financial controls. They have recommended districts with over 5,000 students employ an internal auditor. My goal is to make sure management of the district to put into place ways to increase our performance up from "met standard". We must hire the best teachers and administrators and make sure they are able to innovate and have time to actually teach.[4] | ” |
| —Jerry Hall (2017)[5] | ||
If elected, what two issues would you give the most attention and resources?
| “ | I will continue to focus on finances with a goal of hiring an internal auditor. Make sure we have the leadership to bring up our student preformance as well as our state mandated test scores.[4] | ” |
| —Jerry Hall (2017)[5] | ||
For incumbent trustees: What have you learned from your board service that you believe makes you more effective?
| “ | I have come to know I have to convince others to come to my side on an issue as it takes a majority to emplement change.[4] | ” |
| —Jerry Hall (2017)[5] | ||
As you look around the country, what innovative ideas would you recommend for improving classroom performance?
| “ | I believe we need to return to some degree to the basics reading, writing and arithmetic. We need to make sure we educate all of our students.[4] | ” |
| —Jerry Hall (2017)[5] | ||
Given the current funding structure, how does your district meet the academic needs of its low-income students? Are you willing to ask voters to approve a tax increase to create or expand these programs?
| “ | We as a district have received many federal grants that are for academic success of our low income students.[4] | ” |
| —Jerry Hall (2017)[5] | ||
Many districts are exploring creative ways to save money or shift costs to parents and students. What creative measures would you favor or oppose and why?
Hall did not respond to this question.
The state has adopted an A through F accountability system for district and campuses. Do you favor or oppose this system and why?
| “ | I do favor the new grading system, A-F, because it will more define our progress than the current met standard. As a trustee I have a problem with evaluating our leadership with the system of scoring met standard. When all schools are met standard how can we determine how we are actually doing as a district. Others such as Children at Risk and GreatSchools.com have been using the A-F system for some time.[4] | ” |
| —Jerry Hall (2017)[5] | ||
How would you assess the district’s efforts to improve graduation rates and increase the number of students prepared for college? What further improvements would you advocate?
| “ | There is a lot of work that goes on to improve graduation rates and it takes the leadership and teachers working together to get this done. First, teachers must have time to plan innnovative lesson plans that are varied to keep the students involved and engaged. Teachers must have time to contact parents to communicate the problems of truancy, lateness, lack of preparation, etc. that their student has. The campus leadership needs to work with teachers to plan incentives to lower absentee rates. The whole district benefits when students are in the classroom. There should be vocational classes to equip those students who are not college-bound and help in finding funding for those who desire to go to college but don't feel it is financially possible. There is not a one-size-fits-all solution for these problems but teachers and leadership should be working together to find solutions which will help.[4] | ” |
| —Jerry Hall (2017)[5] | ||
What schools in your district have been particularly effective in getting every child up to grade level in reading and math?
| “ | I do not feel our district is doing a good job in these areas with the exception of a few of our elementary schools. I don't believe our district is the only one grappling with this problem. We have volunteers who come into our schools to help the children. This volunteer problem needs to be encouraged and take advantage of the numerous retired teachers living in the retirement communities. Homework should be assigned so students are working outside the classroom to improve their understanding. PTA'S need to provide books as rewards for children to place these books in their homes; work to educate parents to the need to get children off electronic games and into reading. Dr. Ben Carson said he felt stupid in the classroom because he was not reading his assignments but when his mother began to require them to read a book a week their grades began to rise and they began to excel in the classroom. Tutoring is also essential for helping students understand the concepts of math but the parents have to be involved to make sure students are attending.[4] | ” |
| —Jerry Hall (2017)[5] | ||
How would you assess your district’s current school choice efforts, and what changes are needed?
| “ | School choice is not yet an issue in Texas but I as a trustee will follow the law if choice becomes an issue from the state.[4] | ” |
| —Jerry Hall (2017)[5] | ||
How would you assess your superintendent’s performance?
| “ | I would give him a grade of D. Our district has been allowed to drop from being a recognized district to a "met standard" or an "F" district. This is unacceptable and the Board Has got to demand that our superintendent begin to turn this district around and that he require his assistants present a workable plan to begin immediately to accomplish this. If our leadership does not have the knowledge or skills to do this, they should resign. We are paying our leadership well and we must begin to see positive results. Our children and the taxpayers deserve better than this and they are going to have to begin to demand better.[4] | ” |
| —Jerry Hall (2017)[5] | ||
Where do you stand on the importance of early-childhood education? Would you support increasing class-size ratios at other grade levels in order to introduce or expand pre-K?
| “ | I do believe in early-childhood education. My wife, who is a certified teacher, was teaching our two sons to count, add, subtract, write their names, etc. by the time they were two years old. I still think that is the ideal way for teaching children but I know a school program can teach many things parents are not equipped to do. I would not support increasing the class-size of other grade levels to expand early-childhood education as I believe that is detracting from the older children to benefit the younger ones. If there is increased money for it I will be on board.[4] | ” |
| —Jerry Hall (2017)[5] | ||
What resources are lacking in schools in your district? How could the district deliver services in the most cost-effective manner?
| “ | We have adequate resources including taxes, state aid, federal grants, and even loans. Our resources need to be better allocated.[4] | ” |
| —Jerry Hall (2017)[5] | ||
In what ways can your district’s communications with parents be improved? Likewise, how can parental involvement in your district improve?
| “ | We need more parent involvement in our PTA's. That has always been the arm which brought together teachers and parents. There should be more parent/teacher conferences and perhaps employ incentives for the parents to attend. The parents must understand that education is a three-legged chair-teacher, parent, child-and the chair is not functional without all three legs.[4] | ” |
| —Jerry Hall (2017)[5] | ||
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ DeSoto Independent School District, "Board Member Election," accessed February 19, 2017
- ↑ Dallas County Elections, "Unofficial Cumulative Results," accessed May 6, 2017These election results are unofficial and will be updated after official vote totals are made available.
- ↑ Dallas County Elections, "Campaign Reporting," accessed May 1, 2017
- ↑ 4.00 4.01 4.02 4.03 4.04 4.05 4.06 4.07 4.08 4.09 4.10 4.11 4.12 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ 5.00 5.01 5.02 5.03 5.04 5.05 5.06 5.07 5.08 5.09 5.10 5.11 5.12 The Dallas Morning News, "Voter Guide: DeSoto ISD, Place 4," accessed May 3, 2017
| DeSoto Independent School District elections in 2017 | |
| Dallas County, Texas | |
| Election date: | May 6, 2017 |
| Candidates: | Place 3: • Incumbent, Karen Daniel • Demetric Brown • Van Stripling • Jeremy Woods Place 4: • Incumbent, Jerry Hall • Tiffany Clark • DeAndrea Fleming • Krystal Denise Sams Place 5: • Incumbent, Aubrey Hooper • A'Londa Barber • Laneshia Jordan • Darrell Porter |
| Important information: | What was at stake? • Additional elections on the ballot • Key deadlines |
