Samuels hopes for another chance to make a difference in PAISD

Mary Meaux
The Port Arthur News

April 05, 2008 02:13 pm

— Former Port Arthur ISD school board member and president Julia Samuels is seeking a spot back on the board of trustees.
Samuels, 68, is running on the theme “Moving PAISD from Discomfort to Comfort,” in hopes of addressing a number of concerns she has regarding the district.
“Teachers are discomfortable with PAISD leadership,” she said. “Teachers are the life blood of any district.”
PAISD needs to make the district’s committed teachers comfortable so they will stay in PAISD.
The district also needs to focus on the student drop-out rate and student withdrawal rate regarding students who leave the district to attend schools elsewhere.
“This is a loss of funds and image,” she said.
The district has new schools, recently built, but new schools with empty rooms and no teachers is a loss of taxpayer dollars, she said.
Samuels feels Superintendent Johnny Brown could do more for the district.
“He is not where I’d like to see him,” she said. “He’s passed the bond and is very visible but student test scores are not where I’d like them to be.”
She said she sees a lot of inequity in hiring and pay practices and too many disgruntled teachers.
“I’d like to see some improvement with Brown on these issues,” she said.
Samuels’ goals include: the need to address obesity of students recess in all of the district schools, retention of students and teachers and equity in salary, promotion and change in positions that strictly follow the District Personnel Policy.
“We need to maintain and evaluate the most needed, ‘Waterford Reading Program,” promote qualified employees and not just friends and family, have equal pay for all employees and not just a select few, support meaningful parental involvement, host a quarterly community meeting to inform taxpayers of the result of their investment,” she said.
Samuels is also concerned about nepotism within PAISD.
“Remember the television ad ‘Parents, it is 10 p.m., do you know where your children are?,’” she said. “Taxpayers, it is 10 p.m., do you know where your district is?”
Samuels is married to Herman Samuels for 50 years and is the mother of six with seven grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.

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