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Duke running for LISD
By Chris Roark, croark@acnpapers.com
Kathy Duke plans to once again sit on the Lewisville ISD Board of Trustees.
Duke announced Wednesday that she will run for Place 1 in the May 12 election. Place 1 will be vacated by Tom Ferguson, who announced last month that he will not be seeking re-election.
Duke, a Highland Village resident, had served on the board from 2004-2010 before losing her bid for a third term to Julie Foughty.
"My desire to run again is based on my unwavering support for educating the children of our community," said Duke, a 1986 graduate of Lewisville High School. "Never before have the budgetary challenges to our schools been greater than today, so I believe this is the time we can't afford to entrust the board to anyone other than a fiscally conservative and experienced advocate for our children."
Duke said her time on the board previously was spent providing conservative leadership and helping build a strong fund balance for the district.
That fund balance has been key in getting LISD through a tough financial climate that has seen districts across the state struggle. Things didn't improve during the 82nd Texas Legislature last spring as the state cut education funding by $4 billion. That has resulted in a lawsuit against the state by a coalition of school districts, including LISD.
"I wouldn't say that the budget is a bigger issue now, but it's an issue that isn't going away," Duke said. "It needs just as much attention now as ever. That's one of the biggest issues in our district."
Duke said she hopes to bring a positive outlook into the campaign, as well as onto the board.
"I don't think boards should be political with all the negativity," Duke said. "It's all about the kids, and it's about people serving the district who care about all of the kids. That's what I did for six years on the board, and that's what I will continue to do."
As far as her loss in 2010, Duke said she doesn't expect that to impact her campaign in 2012. She said the election in 2010 had a lot of obstacles to overcome. For one thing, she said, there was no election for the Highland Village City Council that year, which she said likely kept Highland Village residents from heading to the polls. That may be different this year.
Duke has served as a leader on various boards and organizations, including PediPlace, Youth and Family Counseling, Flower Mound Rotary (past president), Southern Denton County Neighbor to Neighbor, the Lewisville Chamber of Commerce, the Flower Mound Chamber of Commerce (chairperson), YMCA, Women Business Owners of Denton County, the PTA, The Lewisville Education Foundation and the Communities in Schools advisory board. She has also been elected into the LHS Hall of Fame and named the Rotarian of the Year and Citizen of the Year in Flower Mound.
The following are comments from the readers.
In no way do they represent the view of Starlocalnews.com
In no way do they represent the view of Starlocalnews.com
scratchinmyhead wrote on Jan 4, 2012 9:45 PM:
" I do my best to keep up with what's happening in LISD but I may have missed a few things. I do seem to recall listening to Ms. Duke herself give a sales pitch back in 2009 to raise our property taxes by .13 and failure to do so would cause the district to have to lay off teachers and cancel programs, etc. However, it is my understanding the district was able to balance the 2010 budget WITHOUT Ms. Duke's tax increase and WITHOUT touching the plush fund balance that Ms. Duke and her previous cronies were so proud of. By the way, that fund balance/savings account is over $120 MILLION Dollars. In fact, I believe I read where the current LISD Board was able to reduce the budget by $17 MILLION dollars that Ms. Duke and her cronies had inflated the district's budget by allowing numerous inefficiencies and overhead. Ms. Duke Conservative? I don't think so. Good for LISD? No, that is why she was voted out in 2010. Six years was too long. There are others that have been on the board too long as well. LISD needs term limits and definately does not need the old board to return. Things appear to finally be turning around for the betterment of all students. "
Henry Throw wrote on Jan 11, 2012 1:31 PM:
" I agree with scratchinmyhead. Ms Duke and her cronies were the ones that hired a coach for LHS that they knew was just waiting to retire and would not rebuild the program. Going 7-23 the last 3 years proved that. The new board finally gave us a good coach.
We need more Lewisville residents on the board of the LISD. "
We need more Lewisville residents on the board of the LISD. "
tcgolfer wrote on Feb 18, 2012 2:26 PM:
" Henry, at least you got a new coach. We in The Colony have put up with a sorry sports program for years. My Daughter played golf, the kids never got the support form the school that they should have. Point is, the school board is full of "good ole boy" politics. We are always told that teachers will lose their jobs unless we increase the tax rate. Ever see a member of the board take a pay cut? "
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