I would like to thank Dr. Mack for taking the time to personally sit down and speak with me. I would also like to thank everyone who sent me questions. Although I agree to disagree with Dr. Mack on our current superintendent it was nice to be able to get some answers. Below are the following questions and answers.  1. WHY DOES A 5A DISTRICT FEEL THE NEED TO OPERATE WITH A PART-TIME SUPERINTENDENT?   According to Dr. Mack it is only a title so he can receive his retirement. He never really spends 20 hrs. a week behind the desk, because he is always behind the scenes working and works full time 2. WHAT KNOWLEDGE DID THE BOARD HAVE OF THE REASSIGNMENT OF TEACHERS AT HUDSON PEP? They had no knowledge. This is the job of the superintendent. Dr. Wilcox was told by the principle at Hudson PEP that after the test was given they would have more students enrolled at the school and would need an additional teacher to meet the needs of the students. These students that passed either chose to stay in their neighborhood school or went to private schools. They use the PEP test to set a bench mark in private schools to see where the student should be placed. The reason it took so long to make the decision is that Sue Wilson informed them that she could fix the situation and to hold off with the reshuffling until she had a chance to find more students    3.WE WERE TOLD THE REASON FOR THE REASSIGNMENT WAS DUE TO CLASS SIZE, WHY HAVE WE NOT ADDRESSED THE SAME ISSUE AT THE OTHE CAMPUS. IT HAS BEEN STATED BY THE BOARD THAT NOTHING IS BROKEN IN THE LISD SYSTEM SO WE DON’T NEED TO ADDRESS THE SUPERINTENDENT ISSUE. OUR SCORES AS POSTED ON THE TEA ARE NOT UP TO PAR, WHAT IS THE PLAN TO IMPROVE THE SCORES AND THE EDUCATION OF OUR KIDS The principals are in charge of telling the superintendent what they need when it comes to staffing. Dr. Mack clams that Dr. Wilcox is doing an outstanding job, and if the parents around the district were more like the Hudson parents and enroll their kids on time we would not have this issue of reshuffling. He feels the board is not broken, but that we need more qualified teachers, and not many want to work in the High school area. As for test scores he believes with quality teachers who are willing to work for LISD would help.     4. WHY WILL THE BOARD NOT PUT INTO PLACE TERM LIMITS? Dr. Mack is in favor of term limits, and a few of the board members would agree as well. Dr.Mack also stated that it is hard to find someone to fill the board positions  5.  IT WAS IMPORTANT A YEAR AGO TO CONDUCT A SEARCH FOR A NEW SUPER INTENDENT, WHY IS IT NOT IMPORTANT NOW? Dr. Mack believes Dr. Wilcox is doing an outstanding job, and that he is on a day by day contract, so if the need to fire him comes they do not have to worry about contract agreements, and that no other school has a superintendent who is willing to do that. And that they do not want to hire a superintendent with a long term contract, and it turn out not to be a good decision, then they would have to ride out their contract before terminating them  6. WE WOULD LIKE A NEW SUPER INTENDENT, NOT IN HOUSE, HOW CAN WE GET THIS ACCOMPLISHED? I was told that the first process would be to search first for a new superintendent, and that they will not look in house. But as for now there is no need to search, they are all happy with Wilcox  7. WHY HAVE THE BOARD AND SUPER INTENDENT NOT MADE EFFORTS TO BUILD RELATIONSHIPS WITH THE, TEACHERS, PARENTS, AND COMMUNITY? Dr. Mack stated that his door is always open, and the same goes for all board members. The superintendent is there to make sure each school is giving the students the best possible education. I was told Wilcox likes to operate behind the scenes and is not a very good public speaker, but is a great man when it comes to education  8. WHY DO THE EMPLOYEES FEAR RETALIATION FROM THE ADMINISTRATION? IS THAT A WORK ENVIRONMENT THE BOARD SUPPORTS?   Dr. Mack does not know why employees fear retaliation. He also believes that the school principals should not be friends with the staff, so that when it comes to making decisions the principal can make the right choices about the school, not what’s best for their friends. He believes that a soft friendly principal will not run a school the way it needs to be run, and that it will hurt the school , You have to put friendships aside when it comes to school business and make the right decisions for the school.  9. WHY were YOU so willing to take a man who was starting a part time Primerica business at the same time he was taking the helm at LISD, a district that has always had issues Dr. Mack believes that Pimerica does not interfere with Wilcox duties as a superintendent, and believes that he give sound financial advice to anyone willing to listen. That eventually teachers retirement will not be enough to live on in the future, and if they start investing now while they are young they will be able to comfortably retire.  10. LHS had substitutes in some classes as late as September 25.  And if the district is so fabulous, why can't it get teachers? They are trying. There is no lack of effort on their part, but teachers are afraid to teach at LHS 11.IS IT more important to this district to have a retired teacher who has trs insurance. Even when A This is the principals call not the administration or the superintendent. Not aware of this policy 12. It is unbelievable to me that our administration feels they know better than the teachers and principals when it comes to substitute staffing needs. DO YOU FEEL THIS WAY? It is up to the principals to make this decision not the administration. If the school needs teachers they then tell the superintendent and the poisons will be searched for 13. Another great concern I have is that Horace Williams is not a suitable replacement, temporary or otherwise, for Wilcox.  I have never seen a more dissatisfied staff than we have had since Williams' took the lead. WHAT ARE THE BOARDS PLANS AND TIMELINE FOR REPLACING DR. WILCOX WITH A FULLTIME SUPERINTENDENT? Dr. Mack believes Williams is a great and hardworking individual, he believes they are dissatisfied because he makes them do their job. There are no plans to search for a new superintendent ir there were it would not come from within.  14. Where are the funds coming from for the new Montessori school?  They should not be using bond money for it as this new school was not approved by the voters in that bond. These funds are coming from the Fund balance, not a bond, and he states they will not have another bond  15. Why is it the 13th week of school and they still don't have textbooks in IB 11th grade history class? This is also a question to ask the principal of that school, once the principal makes the decision that they need staffing they must follow the chain of command to get what they need  16. will the district be giving their teachers back their local sick days. They took them from us several years ago and told us we would get them back,  but as of yet they have not. If we as teacher have children ourselves the five state days we get are not enough and then when we run out of days we have to pay back the days we are gone from our check. No, they took them away because it was amazing that if you gave a teacher 5 personal days, and 5 sick days that by the end of the school year most of the teachers had missed 10 days. They have plenty of time off, and their job is to be at school teaching the kids not at home. He also stated that in most jobs, most people don’t miss that many days of work, and if they did he would fire them if they worked for him. Teachers are there to teach our children 17.  Horace Williams is not a suitable replacement, temporary or otherwise, for Wilcox.  I have never seen a more dissatisfied staff than we have had since Williams' took the lead. What can we do to fix this issue? He believes Williams is doing a good job, but he will not be considered for the superintendent spot it the situation comes to head  18. What is the district's vision for technology in the classroom, as our district is woefully behind other districts in the area. There are constant issues with the server we have now with the little technology that it serves.   Will have to look into it. Principals need to speak up for their schools and follow the chain of command to get this process taken care of  19. When the district created these large elem campuses we lost half of our support staff, then the state budget cuts came and we lost even more staff. As the money has returned,  how is that there have only been creation of new positions at the ESC and consultants added but no staff that works directly with students? Once again this is the Principals call to show the need, The principal needs to convince the administration what is needed  20. What is the district's plan for managing the growing population of ED students? One and a half behavior specialist for the whole district is a joke They are try to work on that , and are looking into it  21. Why is Ned E Williams (NEW) sitting with the fewest students of the elem campuses and it is not being utilized to help with the over crowding from campuses like Ware? NEW student should have 15 in a class to win  awards but Ware can have 30 and be told work harder They are trying to get away from busing children all over the district. My opinion(Jason Bates) is that this new school has a large minority population and if they take a teacher from there instead of Hudson PEP that it would cause a issue with people in the community thinking that if you take a teacher away from a large minority school that it would cause a huge issue using the race card, so they took from Hudson so not to cause a larger problem in the community.   22. Why is there the least amount support staff/programs for the elementary campuses when all data  studies say early intervention is the most effective. When counting staff in the Elementary school there needs to be consideration that Sp Ed and Head start staff can Only be used to serve their special population.  Looking into it  23. how many schools west if I 45 have campuses with 700 or more students with one principal, one counselor, and one support staff the take care of all campus needs??   Does not know