The Hays Post sent questionnaires to all the candidates who are running for seats on the Victoria USD 432 school board.
The candidates who will appear on the ballot include Janea Dinkel, Terry Dinkel, Haley Gagnon, Brenton Hoffman, Jacob Hunter, Douglas Kuh, Tammy Lichter, Matthew Orr, Morgan Pfeifer, Gregory Sander, Tammy Lee Schumacher.
Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 7. Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
To find your polling location, click here.
Tammy Lee Schumacher
Age: 61
Profession: International Best Seller Author, Speaker, Trainer, Life Coach, Farmer, Mother, Grandmother
Incumbent: No
Do you have children or grandchildren who attend(ed) Victoria schools?
I have five children who are Alumni of USD 432 Disctrict. I have nine grandchildren currently attending. Two more will be attending next year. And in the near future a few more, including great-grandchildren.
Why are you running for school board?
As a former school board member multiple parents came to me throughout the 2023 part of the school year and asked me to run. When I heard of the issues at hand I chose to step up to the plate. I am seeing the need that our younger generations require support and guidance from those of us who have walked this walk before.
As an international best-selling author, Life Coach and Mentor, Farmer’s wife, mother of five Alumni, a businesswoman and grandmother of 13, nine of which attend USD 432 schools, I come with the capacity of emotional and mental maturity to actively listen to the hard conversations. I bring a new perspective that will not always be of a “YES” person.
I am running with the Intention of Transforming and holding a higher bar for Truth, Integrity, and Transparency.
I will work towards keeping accountability strong, especially in those who are hired to run the 432 school district, staying on top of fiscal responsibility and lowering the cap on spending without board approval.I will work towards having the appropriate amount of para’s per capita of students in our school system especially to support those children that have special scholastic needs, some call this IEP.
If you had one thing you could change about the USD 432 school district, what would it be?
I feel the most important thing we can do for the USD 432 District is work hard at retaining our Good Veteran Teachers, not only will this highly benefit the students, also the newer teachers as well. The last thing I want any of us to experience again is to have multiple great teachers continue to leave our district, as they have the last two years.
What is your opinion of the Hays USD 432 administration? No Comment
Do you think you could work with the current administration moving forward? Certainly, that is my intention. However, I am not a "Yes" person. I will ask questions. I expect time to do due diligence. I do not make hasty decisions and implementing a requirement of three bids per item that requires an outlay of funds will help with making educated decisions.
What is your opinion of the current school board?
I encourage others to attend the school board meetings on the second Monday of every month at 7 p.m. to form their own personal opinion.
Do you think you could compromise with the incumbents who will remain on the board?
My intention is to work with those who remain on the board cohesively along with those who will take the four open seats, however, I am not a “YES” person. If we come to a point where we agree to disagree, I will vote as that in front of the public. In my opinion, voting “all in favor” when I do not agree is misleading the public and misrepresenting the reasons I ran for the position of being on the school board. We do not live in a Pollyanna world, there are real issues at hand and to pretend otherwise will go against the reason I am running. I committed back in April, to run with the Intention of Transforming and holding a higher bar for Truth, Integrity, and Transparency.
What do you think the board’s role should be in the day-to-day operations of the district?
The school board should not have to be involved in day-to-day operations since they hired someone who should be capable of doing so, hopefully able to be trusted to run things accordingly. It is that person’s job to manage the daily functions of the district. However, parents that have come to me to ask me to run for school board, I have learned that somewhere along the way trust has been broken and shattered with some parents and students. If it calls to have more involvement until trust is rebuilt and true transparency comes forth consistently, being readily available for students, parents, staff, and supporting teachers; however I can, I will to the best of my ability. School board members must remember they were elected by the parents of these students to do the absolute best for them and if for a bit that entails being more involved in some areas, we should step forward. It is not about control or dictatorship, it is about building and maintaining a solid relationship between board members, administration, parents, students, staff, and teachers that is built upon Transparency, Integrity, and Truth, which lends itself to others to build Trust. I have faith that by working together with this type of foundation we can transform where things are currently to be a strong unity, putting our children, the students at the top of the priority list.
What are your opinions of the school district’s discipline policies and how they have been applied?
Inconsistent, favoritism is evident
What do you think the school district should do to improve student test scores and academic performance?
Full Circle goes back to Teacher retention, especially for Veteran teachers. Bring back pen and paper more frequently, along with textbooks that they actually use, and reduce the amount of time on iPads/technology. Too much screen time is not good for the health of these young people. A major requirement is hiring more Para's per capita of students in our school system especially to support those children that have special scholastic needs. Inform parents immediately, less than 24 hours, no excuses allowed, when a student is on the low or failing list, and when not adhering to this, do not punish the student when parents are not notified immediately. Together, We are affecting the totality of those children and teachers in the day-to-day functioning and I do not take that lightly.