Jan Tyler, Candidate for AISD Place 6
1. Taxpayers' Dollars – please respond by February 26, 2026
Currently the AISD has the highest M&O rate of any ISD in Tarrant County. Staff has started budgeting for the paying of recapture (“Robin Hood”). How fiscally responsible should the board be with taxpayers' dollars and why? How high of a priority should fiscal responsibility be and why? What are your suggestions to be more fiscally responsible?
As a taxpayer, I know that every Arlington resident does not want to pay higher taxes, but also wants the best school opportunities for their children. Fiscal responsibility should be a huge portion of a Trustee’s position. The title “Trustee” means that the community has put their trust in you to spend their money wisely, and offer an excellent education with every dollar spent. All spending should be evaluated by its ability to support the quality of education in Arlington. First consideration, does it add value to daily instruction? Do the teachers think it is worth spending the money? Will the student outcomes be improved? I would always seek input from the teachers, administrators, and those that are supposed to benefit by the expenditure. My experience as a classroom teacher for 38 years, left many of us sometimes wondering “whose great Idea was that?” Money has be spent to meet the ever changing elements of education, and I would hope that great amounts of input and consideration would occur before spending. A good Trustee needs to have a mindset like they are spending their own money. Trustees also need to look at the bottom line and always aim to cut items that no longer yield good results. Fiscal responsibility is a must for a School Board Trustee.
2. School Closures – please respond by March 5, 2026
On January 20, 2026 the board voted to close Blanton Elementary at the end of the school year. Do you agree with this decision? Why or why not? How difficult of a decision is it to make?
Closing a school should be one of the most difficult decisions a Board member has to make. Every student, parent, and staff member works to make their school the best. As a school community, they have ownership in every way that the school functions. They have invested their time and efforts to make their school one that they are proud of. Because of the emotions attached to a neighborhood school, any changes whether it is closing or changing boundary lines, needs time, deliberation, and a great amount of communication with everyone affected by the changes.
Regarding Blanton, the Board cited many parent meetings over many months. This would be a priority in this situation. I would hope that every option was discussed and evaluated before the final decision. While making the decision to close, the next priority to consider are the impacts on the displaced students, as well as, the schools receiving the students. In the Blanton closure, there did seem to be transportation concerns and not having a safe, timely walking distance to a new school.
The final consideration would be the financial advantages or disadvantages of closing a school. With the decreasing enrollment, it would seem plausible that the enrollment could sustain one school closing, and save the money on maintaining an aging building.
These are all the factors that I would want answered and defined before voting on this issue. Since, I didn’t have any details regarding the facts about the Blanton closure, I cannot not tell you how I would have voted. I can only tell you that I would have asked that all the factors mentioned above were addressed and deliberated with the sole purpose that the closure was in the best interests of the students, parents, staff, and fiscal responsibility.
3. Teachers' Salaries – please respond by March 12, 2026
Is having the highest teachers' salaries in the north Texas area a good thing? Why or why not?
4. Student Achievement Goals – please respond by March 19, 2026
The district has performance improvement plans where the goals are for less than 50% of the students meeting or exceeding grade level expectations on the state achievement assessments. Is this acceptable? Why or why not? What are your suggestions regarding student achievement goal plans?
5. Communications – please respond by March 26, 2026
If you receive an e-mail from a constituent on an AISD issue and the constituent logically laid out and well documented the issue, will you respond to the constituent? Why or why not? What actions will you take?
6. Issues – please respond by April 2, 2026
What is the most important issue the board is currently facing? Why? What are your suggestions for addressing this issue?