Kathleen Thompson

Kathleen Thompson

Education

High school

Grapevine High School

Bachelor's

University of North Texas

Personal

Profession

Author

Contact

Personal website

Kathleen Thompson was a candidate for the Place 1 seat on the Grapevine-Colleyville Board of Trustees in Texas. She lost the general election on May 9, 2015.

Thompson participated in Ballotpedia's 2015 survey of school board candidates. To read her responses, check out her 2015 campaign themes.

Biography

Email editor@ballotpedia.org to notify us of updates to this biography.

Thompson is a writer, public servant and school volunteer. She has her bachelor's degree in radio, television and film from the University of North Texas. She has been involved in various community endeavors, including founding the annual Grapevine Veterans Day Parade. She and her husband have two children.

Elections

2015

See also: Grapevine-Colleyville Independent School District elections (2015)

The general election on May 9, 2015, in the Grapevine-Colleyville Independent School District featured two seats up for election. In the Place 1 race, three challengers — Mark Assaad, Mindy McClure and Kathleen Thompson — competed for an open seat since incumbent Kimberley Davis did not file for re-election. In the Place 2 race, incumbent Becky St. John faced challenger Jesse Hoffman. St. John won the Place 2 seat, while Assaad and McClure headed to a runoff election for the Place 1 seat. McClure triumphed over Assaad in that election on June 13, 2015.

Results

Grapevine-Colleyville Independent School District, Place 1 General Election, 3-year term, 2015
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Nonpartisan	Mark Assaad	36.9%	2,384
	Nonpartisan	Mindy McClure	34%	2,196
	Nonpartisan	Kathleen Thompson	29.2%	1,886
Total Votes				6,466
Source: Tarrant County Clerk, "Official Results," accessed June 1, 2015

Funding

Thompson reported $5,799.80 in contributions and $5,043.84 in expenditures to the Texas Ethics Commission, which left her campaign with $755.96 on hand as of May 1, 2015.

Texas school board candidates and officeholders must file semiannual reports, which were due on January 15, 2015, and July 15, 2015. In addition, candidates in contested elections were required to file 30-day and 8-day pre-election reports, unless the candidate chose modified reporting.

Candidates in contested elections who did not intend to exceed $500 in contributions or expenditures, excepting filing fees, were eligible for modified reporting. If they exceeded the threshold before the 30th day prior to the election, candidates were required to submit the 30- and 8-day reports. If they exceeded the threshold after the 30th day prior to the election, they were required to file a report within 48 hours of exceeding the threshold and participate in regular reporting for the rest of the election cycle.

Endorsements

Thompson was endorsed by the Taxpayers Against GCISD Feeder Pattern Changes.

Campaign themes

2015

Ballotpedia survey responses

Thompson participated in Ballotpedia's 2015 survey of school board candidates. The following sections display her responses to the survey questions. When asked what her top priority would be if elected, the candidate made the following statement:

“	GCISD is a destination district because of the quality of education. I will champion the district mission to be The Best. A recent DMN investigation ranked GCISD for transparency/accountability, graded A, B & F. We can do better. I will use modern communication tools to improve communication with families and taxpayers, and increase accountability by listing my direct email/phone information. Trustees serve the whole district, but representation matters. With open Place 1 seat, there are no trustees with children in GCISD schools zoned CHHS and I’m the only Place 1 candidate with children zoned CHHS.	”
—Kathleen Thompson (2015)

Thompson also included the following statement with her responses:

“	Education is an investment. I support (financially / otherwise) the efforts of outside funding sources not subject to “Robin Hood” recapture like the GCISD Education Foundation, and strong relationships with public entities such as Tarrant County College and cities in the GCISD district, to make effective use of community resources, without adding to the current tax rate.	”
—Kathleen Thompson (2015)

Ranking the issues

The candidate was asked to rank the following issues by importance in the school district, with 1 being the most important and 7 being the least important. This table displays this candidate's rankings from most to least important:

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

Issue importance ranking
Candidate's ranking	Issue
1	Improving college readiness
2	Expanding career-technical education
3	Balancing or maintaining the district's budget
4	Closing the achievement gap
5	Improving education for special needs students
6	Expanding arts education
7	Expanding school choice options

Positions on the issues

The candidate was asked to answer 10 questions from Ballotpedia regarding significant issues in education and the school district. The questions are in the left column and the candidate's responses are in the right column of the following table:

Question	Response
What is your stance on implementing Common Core standards?	"Texas does not use Common Core National Standards. We use the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills."
Should your district approve the creation of new charter schools?	"No."
Should the state give money to private schools through a voucher system?	"No."
Are standardized tests an accurate metric of student achievement?	"No."
How can the district ensure equal opportunities for high and low achieving students?	"School board members are ultimately responsible for the success or failure of local public education. GCISD’s shared vision is for a district that inspires, encourages and empowers students to achieve their full potential in a global society. GCISD is a destination district because of outstanding academics, special programs like ASPIRE and STEM, and pre/AP participation. I’ll champion policies that challenge students in classrooms and prepare them for success in college and career."
How should expulsion be used in the district?	"Students with behavior problems should be sent to alternative schools to remove them from their current environments rather than being expelled."
If a school is failing in your district, what steps should the school board take to help the students in that school?	Candidate did not respond to this question.
Do you support merit pay for teachers?	"No."
How should the district handle underperforming teachers?	"Put underperforming teachers on a probationary period while they seek to improve."
How would you work to improve community-school board relations?	"Stronger, timely communication is essential. Current problematic discussions on feeder pattern changes could have been prevented with an open application process for task force members, a routine best practice and town hall discussions."

See also

• Grapevine-Colleyville Independent School District, Texas
• Grapevine-Colleyville Independent School District elections (2014)
• Grapevine-Colleyville Independent School District elections (2015)
• Decreased success for school board incumbents in Texas; 1/3 defeated in largest districts (May 11, 2015)

External links

Suggest a link

• Grapevine-Colleyville Independent School District
• Campaign website
• Campaign Facebook page