Association of Brownsville Educators/Texas State Teachers Association/National Education Association 116 West Jefferson St. Brownsville, TX 78521 · (956) 621-3010 · www.myaobe.com Veronica Borrego, President · Micaela Escobar, Vice-President · Elizabeth Torres, Treasurer. · Laura Rosembaun, Secretary Please answer all questions and return via email by Wednesday, August 26, 2020 no later than 5pm. Questionnaires received after 5pm will not be considered for endorsement. Please note your questionnaires will be posted on our website, myAOBE.com, for our members to review. Thank you for your time in this important process. 1. Please provide your name and contact information together with a brief, biographical information essay about yourself, your family, your educational background (including elementary, middle & high school), employment and any organizations you belong to (professional, community, social), etc. My name is Carlos Alberto Elizondo, I am 48 years old and long time resident of Brownsville, Texas. I was born and reared here. I have attended BISD schools since elementary starting with Perez Elementary, Oliveira Middle School and finally Homer Hanna High School graduating in 1990. I have a Bachelor’s of Science Degree in Nursing from the University of Texas at Brownsville, Associate Degree in Science in Paramedic Studies from Texas Southmost College and a Associate Degree in Nursing from South Texas College, Mcallen. I worked for the City of Brownsville for over 23 years as a Licensed Paramedic and a Professional Firefigher. 2. Why are you running for school board? I bring 4 years of experience as a board member and during my four years, we accomplished many good things for the district. The current building of Hanna HS gym, the high school band halls and other improvement projects were planned and budgeted during my term in office. This current board inherited the many great projects in place. I am passionate about improving the salaries of employees and returning BISD to a normal stability. 3. What are your goals for BISD? 1. Continue to work in the best interest of the students, staff and community. Get the stability back to BISD. 2. Recall the Performing Fine Arts plans and continue where we left off. Complete the Performing Fine Arts within two years of this November. 3. Continue with the plans to have an “A” school district. The A came during my time on the board. 4. One of the biggest issues confronting the district is the drop in student enrollment. What solutions do you have to help attract and retain students in BISD? 1. Stabilize the district as a positive organization 2. Continue to increase the number of programs that benefit students at all levels 3. Continue with positive marketing 4. Hold our superintendent accountable to go out and showcase our community 5. How will you address issues and concerns with the leadership and membership of our employee union, Association of Brownsville Educators - AOBE/TSTA/NEA? Hold superintendent accountable and set goals for him to achieve in six month periods. Make sure that the superintendent meets periodically with the association to discuss the issues, concerns and opportunities presented by the AOBE organization. The superintendent will then report to the board to discuss concerns. 6. What are your thoughts on a living wage? Classified employees in BISD continue to receive pay at below market value, what will you do to rectify this? Please elaborate. Evaluate and study the recent TASB report to review changes and ensure all employees are treated fairly. 7. What will you do when Administration recommends to follow policy and remove an administrative procedure that was implemented to benefit BISD employees? Review policy and return policy to previous status to support employees. These are not times to make such changes. Your Name: Candidate Position Association of Brownsville Educators/Texas State Teachers Association/National Education Association 116 West Jefferson St. Brownsville, TX 78521 · (956) 621-3010 · www.myaobe.com Veronica Borrego, President · Micaela Escobar, Vice-President · Elizabeth Torres, Treasurer. · Laura Rosembaun, Secretary 8. What does site-based decision-making mean to you? Are you willing to commit to having a true site-based decision making at the campus level for BISD school employees and parents? Site-base decision allows fair participation in the decisions taken on each campus. Each principal is responsible for the implementation of site-base decision plan. 9. Do you support vouchers for students who attend low-performance public schools? Explain. No. I believe paying teachers who work in low-performing public schools’ additional stipends to help bring additional support for the students. 10. What is your position on teacher incentive pay based on student performance? No. We are an A district and all teachers had an impact on the good work! 11. Should student test scores be used to evaluate teacher’s performance? Explain your position. No. Academic scores are not the single factor that makes students successful. Teachers should be evaluated with an overall outcome for students. 12. Do you support teacher evaluations in making decisions regarding reduction of force? Explain your position. No…last in, first out, to be fair. 13. Would you support an increase of the health insurance contribution rate for employees above the state minimum required by law? No. We need to look at options that were being review during my time on the board. Additional increases for insurance should be mitigated through other insurance savings due to strategic review of plans. 14. Our association brings a wealth of resources and knowledge that will be an asset to this district, if elected, how will you involve our association and our members in the decision-making process? Superintendent and board should include employee organizations in committees, programs and strategies to discuss major decisions that will impact employees 15. During these unprecedented times, how will you ensure safety of our staff, students and our community? Add a doctor to the district organization to help advice the board and administration regarding the current pandemic issues that affect students and employees. A doctor would be on call for advice and provide direction to how to best handle the medical side of decisions. Your Name: Candidate Position .