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Plano schools PAC was focused on "changing current board members"
By Conner Hammett, chammett@starlocalnews.com
The Plano School Coalition had a focus on "changing current board members" not soon after forming, a document obtained by The Plano Star Courier shows.
The language comes from the political action committee's Nov. 1, 2012 meeting minutes. The group announced its involvement in the coming school board elections last month and said at the time all candidates, including incumbents, would be interviewed and given surveys for a possible endorsement.
"Allan [Bird] voiced concern about our main goal: Do we have candidates to support?" the minutes read. "If not, what is our purpose -- are we in this for 'the long haul' whether or not we can offer challengers this year. The group agreed that we should have a long range vision, but right now need to have a narrow focus on changing current board members."
Mary Beth King, a former school board president and one of three members of the PAC's executive committee, acknowledged the PAC initially sought to change current board members, but noted that its focus has changed since November and that all candidates will be given an equal shot at endorsement.
She said the mission of replacing board members was made because of the perception some PAC members had about current board members.
"At one point there was a concern that some board members had a personal agenda and that's not how this district has usually had boards; very seldom have we had that issue come up," she said. "That evolved into where we are now, which is not that."
Allan Bird, another former board president and executive committee member, said the PAC very well may endorse incumbents depending on the outcome of its interviews and questionnaires but does not plan on making financial contributions to any candidates.
"I would be very surprised, in all honesty, if there aren't a number of the current board members endorsed," he said. "... I think boards need some longevity, so I think the idea of trying to replace the whole board would be a silly thing; not in the interest of the community or the district."
The minutes also mention that King and John Muns, another executive committee member and former school board president, would each speak with a potential candidate regarding their interest in running for school board. The names of the approached persons were redacted in the copy of the minutes obtained by the Star Courier. King did not reveal their identities but said neither person filed.
King acknowledged prior relationships with several candidates, but said the PAC did not put forth its own candidates this year. She said the contacts were made only to find out who might have been planning to run for school board.
"I met with John Caldwell back when I was on the school board," she said. "He had asked to meet with me and told me he was interested in running for the school board at some point in time. At that point I didn't know when, and I met with him just as I'd meet with anybody. I met with Tammy Richards when she was running for the board, just to talk about what's involved and what it takes and things like that."
Bird said the desire to seek out candidates was simply a way to increase participation in the school board elections.
"I can tell you from my experience when I was running, I very seldom had any opposition," Bird said. "I don't think that's a good process in a democracy. So we certainly did look for people to run for positions. We did not encourage anybody to run against anybody else, or at least I personally didn't."
Early voting for Plano ISD and Plano City Council elections begins April 29. Election Day is May 11.
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