I am an ardent follower of PAISD on line and the recorded meeting. Let me take a minute to say thank you for your community service, Greg Flores for 14 years, Lloyd M. Johnson for 10 years. Both with combined time of 24 years. They came in with Conservators in place, the dark periods of the board to total transparency today, a clean audit from TEA, triple A financial standing and $30 million in our General Fund.  Diane Brown for 3 years,  stepping in when no one else was wanting to, giving your time and participation to the Board, Wheatley Early Learning, city wide PTA and Elementary reading program. I mention this because it appears that the new Board Members ran on “CHANGE.”
In observation, the first order of business was to change the the meeting date of the board. Since the Board has been in existence the meeting date has been the fourth Thursday of the month.  All activities, school schedules and school related events are scheduled around the fourth Thursday of the month or with this date in mind. To change this date could cause excessive change and calamity. For this reason it is imperative to keep the meeting date as existing.  With that said, during May 2015 meeting, following the swearing in ceremony of three new Board members one of the items on the agenda  brought to the floor by Mr. Robert Reid, or should I say Vice President Robert Reid, is to change the meeting date to the fourth Monday of each month.  His reasons  given was that he’d missed meetings due to his kids having a Catholic ceremony scheduled and another time when his son received his Eagle Scout badge. He also stated that Thursday is the busiest night for our school kids.
Perhaps since Mr. Reid’s children need his understanding and support then he should resign his position on the board. At this juncture it seems that holding the elected office of school board trustee has become problematic for him and his family needs.
Indeed, those are his reasons and they are understandable reasons for missing. Mr. Reed is applauded in his support of his children however this type of reasoning does not substantiate validity with why the meeting date should be changed based on “one” member’s personal schedule. In addition, while Reed’s support of his children is essential, this cannot satisfy the needs of the multitude of change in all scheduling for the district.  Mr. Reid’s only argument was that this is a busy date for “the school kids”. The concern is what “school kids” is he referring?  Perhaps the reference is to Kelly High School where he is currently employed and where his kids attend or PAISD?
L.A. Harrison
Port Arthur