Advocate Cruz to face off with incumbent trustee John Bruce in UISD board elections

“Advocacy for children has given me tremendous insight into how UISD administration is set up and how the board works,” said Rose Cruz, a candidate for United Independent School District trustee. Cruz, an advocate for children, faces incumbent John Bruce in the District VII race.

“This board is not attuned to what teachers go through and with how to enforce policy and procedures, both of which have a direct effect on the quality of the education offered in the classroom,” said Cruz, the single mother of three children.

Cruz, who holds a Bachelor's of Business Administration in accounting from the University of Texas at San Antonio , said, “The district has a drug problem and a gang problem. Behavioral problems of that nature tell you that all children are not learning, that something in the system is not working. While some of those behavioral problems may indeed be learning disability problems, you must always teach to the strengths of children and not their weaknesses. A child would rather be a behavioral problem than to ever be thought of as dumb or stupid. In order to have motivation, you have to lift their self-esteem. That's the gang issue in a nutshell. A lot of kids go into gangs to get protection and to raise their self-esteem. They are no longer victims, they are the bullies,” Cruz said.

“I'm concerned with how much is not talked about in open forum at UISD board meetings. You have only to watch the meetings to understand how little discussion goes on in public. Those board meetings should be informing the public, and they are not. A recent special called meeting illuminates this. The Rodriguez family gave the school district 300 acres, a donation the district did not accept. Instead the board accepted a donation from another landowner, a donation of 43 acres which also entailed buying an additional 23 acres. There was so little discussion about the transaction, which gave the idea that it had already been discussed among them,” Cruz said.

“That the trustees decided on the Job Corps as an early voting site and how they decided is another example of how little they tell the public what they have discussed. The president of the UISD board runs the Job Corps and another trustee is also employed there. There are 134 registered voters for UISD District VI with 1701 Island Street as their address. That's the Job Corps address. Doesn't that seem at the very least inappropriate?” Cruz asked, referring to the employment of Bruce and fellow incumbent Juan Roberto Ramirez at the Job Corps.

“My opponent listed ‘raffle' as a source of campaign funds on his financial report of campaign donations and expenditures, which is illegal according to the Texas elections code and the attorney general. He has never made an adjustment to allow his electorate know who contributed to his first campaign. He should be more forthcoming. Constituents have a right to know who funds your campaign,” Cruz continued.

“I have always asked questions. That's how you learn,” Cruz said, taking issue with what she perceives is a lack of participation by most of the board. “There are seven board members, and they should be individual thinkers with a voice for their community. I don't see seven individual thinkers. They seem to take Mr. Bruce's lead. One is his employee. Another is related to him by marriage. It takes four votes to make a quorum. There is only one dissenter on the sitting board. You don't hear discussion in public, and the same could be said for the business meetings and the instructional meetings. Where are they discussing it? We are not having open government at UISD. Many of the board members question nothing. If they don't ask questions, how do you know they are working for the best interests of taxpayers, students, and teachers?” she asked.

“I will ask questions,” Cruz said. “I am pledging fairness and trustworthiness. I like to read the facts of a matter before deciding on something, and I like to hear discussion. I also want to find more ways that parents can participate in the education of their child,” she said.

“I understand numbers, accounting, and budgets. Mr. Bruce's balanced budget has more to do with raising taxes and appraisals than with his business acumen. He has taken credit for the security guards at all elementary schools, when really it was a group of parents who pushed to have that done. He credits himself with saving the UISD $12,000 for the Job Corps drug dogs that were given to the district. Did he do that for political advantage? Does his employer the federal government know?” Cruz asked.

“No one board member can do anything by himself. They all have to work together as a team, though not like this board, which decides policy as though it were a family affair,” Cruz said.

“You must be reliable and accessible to those you serve. There is a lot of fear and intimidation. The employees are afraid to speak out for fear of retaliation. That is not a positive educational climate,” Cruz said, adding that the separation pay of $80,000 that went to the former superintendent was “wasteful” and that the trustees had “no reason to get rid of him at that time.” She also called into question the impartiality in this election of the district's superintendent and public information officer. “They should remain neutral in this,” Cruz concluded.

Bruce sees his UISD board service

as one of accomplishment

Incumbent United Independent School District trustee John Bruce will face challenger Rose Cruz in the May 7, 2005 elections. Bruce, the director of the Laredo Job Corps, is president of the UISD board of trustees.

Bruce said he initially ran three years ago to bring board meetings back to a more business-like atmosphere. “I was an unhappy taxpayer disappointed in the work of the sitting board, the way it had administered a bond for the construction of schools. I was dissatisfied with the results, that they weren't building the number of schools they said they would. They built the number of classrooms they said they would, but they didn't build the number of campuses,” Bruce said.

“We had enough tennis courts. As an educator and a law enforcement officer, I was concerned about educational and safety issues,” he continued, recalling the early days of his first term. “It was overwhelming to walk in there as soon as the election was over and to get to work on the budget. The first budget I dealt with was $12 million over revenue the previous year. We emphasized that was unacceptable. We wanted a budget to meet the revenue. In the end, we got the budget within a couple of hundred thousand dollars.”

Asked what he had learned in his first term, Bruce said, “Negotiate, negotiate, negotiate. I as an individual can't do anything. It takes a quorum, four people to make things happen. You become a good team player and you learn to have a little flexibility in your opinions. You learn to set a base line for what you want and what you will give. The board of trustees is seven diverse and dynamic personalities working together.”

Bruce said that in the past the UISD board had “stumbled over some political in-house issues,” but that in the last several years, the body of the board had approached its tasks “in a more business-like manner that allowed administrators to do what they get paid to do. Most of the board doesn't go to employees or directors to ask for reports or task them with jobs or ask them to hire individuals. For the most part, we stay on our side of the fence,”Bruce said.

“That the taxpayers trusted us after the less than stellar performance of the last board, it was a challenge to get the $142 million bond passed. I consider than an achievement of this board. I count as our other successes the random drug testing we now have in place for extracurricular activities and also that we have been able to get a security guard on every elementary school campus in the district,” he said.

“Violence is something that this board is really going to have to deal with. I would like to see us focus on the best quality police department in terms of manpower, equipment, and training. We have four gang intervention officers, one in every high school. I want one in every middle school. Gangs are not unique to high school, and we need to be proactive and intercede at an earlier age. The community will be better off,” Bruce said.

“As a citizen the gang violence is shocking to me, but as an educator and a member of this board, I know it is really widespread. The problem the schools have is that the schools get what society sends us. Whatever is manifesting itself in society, we get it and deal with it from 8 to 4. The things that happen after hours come to the campus the next day. We have to be very proactive. This will be a priority for us,” he said. “We need to find the grants and resources that will allow us to do some intervention in the schools.”

Campus safety, Bruce said, is a high priority. “Safety has to be part of the educational process. It goes hand and glove. The safer students and teachers feel, the more learning goes on,” he said.

“We have a great deal of work ahead,” Bruce said, “including finding the key to better SAT scores. This is a major challenge since most state universities require a 1200 score and many of our students are scoring 850 plus or minus.”

Bruce said the district also needs to address how to help students who do not want a four-year education but want instead to be prepared in high school for a trade that will earn them a living. “Ideally these students would finish high school with a diploma in one hand and certification for some kind of trade in the other. Those trades need to reflect workforce demands here like computer repair or programming, diesel mechanic, or building and electrical trades,” he said.

Of former Superintendent Oscar Rodriguez, Bruce said, “He chose to resign, and we made him an offer to take care of legislative issues for the school district.” Bruce was not on the board that hired Rodriguez. “For my part I looked at whether the superintendent could be a good CEO. That was more important to me than whether he had come up through the ranks in the educational system. I thought it was more important whether or not he could handle a $228 million budget. A good CEO can hire the best instruction and transportation people. My idea of a good superintendent would be one who knew about bonds, term rates, financials.”

Bruce and his wife Elsa Campos Bruce have two children, Janice Ann Bruce and Robert L. Bruce, and a granddaughter, Kaitlyn Elizabeth Bruce. John Bruce earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in journalism and history from Texas A&I University in Kingsville. He is a former high school teacher and a native Laredoan, born he said,

“in the old Mercy Hospital.”

UISD board has achieved much,

says incumbent trustee Ramirez

Incumbent United Independent School District trustee for District 6, Juan Roberto Ramirez, will square off with challenger Jesus J. Gonzalez in the May 7, 2005 elections. Ramirez, who is a career advisor and a business community liaison with the Laredo Job Corps, seeks a second term.

“The first time I ran for the UISD board, it was pretty clear to me that the community was calling for a change. I'm proud to be part of that change,” Ramirez said. “The taxpayers felt they were not being heard for the needs of the students. Teachers didn't have the tools they needed. There were many deficiencies that I think we have addressed,” he added.

“Serving on the board was new to me. I had served on committees before but not on a board like this one. I have learned a great deal about what teachers need and what students need. It has been like an education. With the wisdom and common sense I have as an administrator, I try to make good decisions to facilitate and give staff and teachers the tools they need for the children,” Ramirez continued.

Ramirez, a graduate of Martin High School, is a Vietnam veteran. Most of his work prior to the Job Corps post has been as a Federal Police Officer in Beaumont, Corpus Christi, and McAllen. “I have worked to safeguard federal judges and have also worked with the DEA on investigative assignments as well as with U.S. Customs,” Ramirez said of his 25 years in law enforcement.

“I've had a life of service to my country, and I've taken great pride in being of service to my community as a UISD board member,” he said.

“We've reached so many of our goals on this board. We've improved transportation by retiring buses purchased in 1977 and replacing them with 90 new buses equipped with cameras and air conditioning. We have 12 more coming in,” he said, adding that the buses were purchased with Coca Cola revenues.

“We brought three more facilitators and gang intervention counselors to the district. We are offering more security for the middle schools, the high schools, and the elementary campuses. We have two K-9 patrols for the high schools. This board helped acquire security guards for every elementary school in the district through the Security Reserve Officers who are City of Laredo police officers,” the trustee continued, adding that finding funds for better equipment and training is a priority. Ramirez said he was proud to be a part of passing the $142 million bond issue to build new schools. “Two of those elementary schools are already completed and another three will be ready for classes to begin in August,” Ramirez said, noting that Barbara Fasken Elementary is being constructed in his district. “This will alleviate the busing of hundreds of children down the Mines Road,” he said, adding that the bond issue funds have gone to six elementary campuses, three middle schools, one new high school, and the addition of wings to some existing schools.

According to Ramirez, United Middle School will become the largest middle school in the district. “It will be named for all veterans and will be called Veterans Memorial Middle School,” he said.

Ramirez said the board is also focused on building a better curriculum and giving teachers better teaching tools.

“I've rolled up my sleeves and worked with the other board members. With the knowledge I have gained, I want to keep on working to find the best tools for staff and teachers. It's pretty easy to find me. I have an open door policy as a board member. I have always looked out for the needs of the children,” Ramirez said.

Ramirez and his wife Maricela have five children -- Juan Roberto Ramirez, Jr., Javier, Ana Margarita, Ricardo Eric, and Cesar Alejandro.

Ramirez earned a Bachelor of Arts in business administration at Beaumont Community College.

Jesus Gonzalez faces off

with incumbent UISD trustee Ramirez

Lifetime educator Jesus J. Gonzalez will face incumbent United Independent School District trustee for District 6 Juan Roberto Ramirez in the May 7, 2005 elections.

“I was a barrio boy (Sal Sí Puedes) who attended Santa María Elementary, the migrant school,” Gonzalez said, recalling that as migrant workers, he and his sister Leonor were considered at-risk students who might not finish out the school year. “I have great empathy for children who are in peril,” said Gonzalez, who is a math teacher at the Lara Academy, Laredo Independent School District's alternative school. “And I take issue with the unfounded notions of administrators that if everything is not all right at home, it will not be all right at school. If you have certain expectations, students will live up to them. I respect my students in the classroom. I don't just get their attention. I get their loyalty and I get them engaged to learn. It is very rewarding to see them realize as much as a student who is not considered at risk by disabusing them of the low expectations they think people have of them.”

Gonzalez has taught at the Lara Academy since it opened in 1997. “If you are going to teach proper values and social skills, we have to conform to the rules of social interaction, be respectful of others, never lose your temper, be positive,” he said.

“Individual teachers make a difference on individual lives,” Gonzalez said, recalling four teachers at Santa María Elementary who made a difference in his life -- Mrs. Brown, Mrs. Valdez, Ms. Smith, and Mr. Vallone. “As migrant children we had school days that went from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. from late October to late April, and then we went with our parents up north. Those teachers encouraged us. They made the interruption in the school year as painless as possible. They were individuals whom I believed knew everything. I wanted to be a teacher who could change lives,” he continued, adding that his mother held their lives together. “She made sure we were clean and fed. She worked a shift at the Western Grill from 10 p.m. to daybreak. I don't know how she did it, but she bought us a World Book Encyclopedia, which was such a gift. I read them from A to Z.”

Gonzalez said he has worked since he was a nine-year-old, at first picking tomatoes, carrots, pumpkins, corn, and sugar beets in the fields up north and then as a teenager through the Manpower program and as a sacker at Alfredo Santos Grocery. “I stopped going north in the tenth grade, and my life changed,” he said. “I was no longer behind in geometry. I could join the band. I could belong to my remarkable, very competitive Class of 1976 which was filled with people who wanted to succeed.”

Gonzalez, who earned a Bachelor of Science degree in history and government from Laredo State University and a Master's in school administration from Texas A&M International University, is certified as a principal and also has certification in special education and teaching the gifted and talented.

“I am running for trustee because this board is not focused on education first. It is a board that is sidetracked and involved in the intimidation of employees, power struggles, and personal agendas -- things that have nothing to do with education,” he said. “Their cliquishness surfaces in their failure to discuss things in open forum. There is an overriding sentiment that they are making their decisions outside the realm of the open forum. Their behavior constitutes abuse of power and abuse of the public trust. Favoritism is rampant and so is micro-managing. I also take issue with their failure to properly post board meeting agendas on the internet like the City and LISD. I want this board to end its veil of secrecy and mis-information which extends from the main office to the classroom. I want a board that is focused on education. TAKS is not a holistic approach to education. This board has expressed no opinion on the shortfalls of the TAKS.”

Gonzalez said that one of this board's greatest shortfalls is its failure to provide for the vocational instruction needs of more students. “It's not enough and it is not in the areas of demand,” he said of the existing UISD vocational ed efforts.

Gonzalez took issue with the district's turnover rate which he called “phenomenal,” and the student drop-out rate. “Academics are non-negotiable, but as educators you can't only think of the advanced placement and gifted and talented students,” he said. “We brag about our magnet schools, but we need to think about the other end of the spectrum. We need to think about No Child Left Behind, which is to say you are committed to the education of every child in the district. Title I funds should be spent exactly as they are mandated for at-risk kids. Every board member should be educated and well aware of how grants work and who will benefit. Some of those board members just sit there, take the lead from someone else, and refrain from discussion,”Gonzalez said.

“This board needs to stop creating administrative positions that take money away from teachers and students,” Gonzalez said, asking, “Why doesn't UISD participate in the state grants that give teachers set-up funds for the beginning of the school year? LISD does this. We need to find sources of revenue that don't burden the taxpayer. This board needs to come alive and become fiscally responsible and more frugal with taxpayer money.”

Gonzalez and his wife Diana have six sons, Jesus J., Jr., José Guadalupe, Cristopher George, Joshua Adam, Alex Peña, and Julian Peña.

LISD trustee George Beckelhymer

seeks second term on board

Incumbent Laredo Independent School District trustee John Beckelhymer faces challenger Ernest Miller in the upcoming elections for District 4.

Beckelhymer said he has been vigilant about the district's spending, questioning the merit of projects before they happen, such as the board's authorization to spend $700,000 for screens for windows on several campuses, screens that purportedly would save on what was spent to make repairs from vandalism and theft. “No one had asked about a warranty for the screens, and no one had looked for the dollar figure for vandalism and theft at those campuses,” Beckelhymer said. “It turns out it was cheaper to live with the repairs, much cheaper than to go with the $700,000 screens. That money went right back to the fund balance.”

Beckelhymer said, “I've also applied my business experience to other areas of the district's expenditures, such as the purchase of the Cedar Street property, a square block of land we thought was a good deal because it has 10,000 square feet of buildings on it. We were told initially that for a million dollars, that included the purchase, we could have buildings that would go to good use. Later at a finance committee meeting, we were told it would cost far more than that. I put the brakes on it and we torpedoed it.”

According to Beckelhymer, one of the initiatives that was most important to him as a trustee was getting the district to focus on nutrition. “I wanted to see more intelligence going into the choices for what we feed the children. The USDA and the state have sent us guidelines for whole grain foods, low fat milk, and less sugars. We do not match the minimum nutritional standards of the state and federal government. We now exceed them,” he continued.

Beckelhymer said that the hiring of a fine arts director for the district translates to expanded music programs at the elementary school level. “Not only will we have a feeder program of musicians moving through the schools, but we will also have music students reaping the benefits of discipline and cognitive exercises. As a board and as educators we have a responsibility to give students the best opportunities to develop. This is one way we can help, and we have the resources to be able to do it,” he said.

As to his position of support for Supt. Sylvia Bruni, Beckelhymer said, “I am voting on behalf of her goals and giving her enough time to achieve them.”

Miller sees parental involvement

as component of overall education

Laredo Independent School District 4 resident Ernest Miller will face incumbent trustee George Beckelhymer in the May 7 elections.

“The system needs new ideas. I want to be part of making things better for students, teachers, and tax payers,” Miller said.

“In the nine years that I've been involved in the summer basketball program at Nixon High School, I have seen how much parental involvement is lacking, and I think it means a great deal not only to the individual students, but also to the overall education of students and the policies that affect them,” said Miller, who with his wife Margarita has three sons, Ernest, Mark, and Paul.

“Starting at home, if we as parents come in to the process when our children are young students, we can get them to buy into the educational part by motivating them and supporting them, which only makes it easier for the teachers to educate them,” Miller said.

“I want to find ways to work to get parents involved in the education of their children. There is a great loss of respect in the classroom. I want to find ways to bring respect back. A lot of kids want to learn, but there are just as many that you have to work harder to get them to learn,” he said.

“One way would be to have high school or college level students come back into the system as tutors,” Miller said. “If those tutors could earn barter points at businesses that donated products, they could be paid that way.” He said he also wants to ensure that the district's vocational instruction enables graduating students to earn a gainful living.

“One of the most important incentives we could give teachers is an insurance plan they can live with, a plan that doesn't put such a dent in their pay,” Miller said.

“I'm running for trustee because if I stay on the sidelines, I gain nothing. We have to bend and not break and never lose sight of our mission to educate and prepare our students for a future that is meaningful,” he said.

Miller is a senior account manager for Baker Hughes, where he has been employed for 26 years. He said he has extensive experience in budgets and personnel, both of which he said would help him be a productive trustee.