Fort Bend Independent School District Position 3 candidate Clay Alumbaugh says he is running for the seat because the board needs an “experienced educator and manager” to give it some “balance” as the district struggles with its third deficit budget in a row.
Alumbaugh
Alumbaugh, a math teacher and school counselor, will face program construction manager Jim Rice to replace Board President Bob Broxson, who will not be running for a second term.
“After 39 years experience in the field, I believe I have what it takes to get the FBISD budget back on track after nearly 3 consecutive years of first ever record deficits,” said Alumbaugh. “The board should first be about educating our children and that can only be done if our system is not in constant financial turmoil. This may mean making some tough decisions ultimately but we can’t put this off any longer, said the candidate.”
Alumbaugh said his current concerns are the district’s deficit spending, upcoming layoffs, the decision to not consider seniority in the layoffs, the Global Science Center and the “lack of someone on the board to ask questions.”
“I thought the Global Science Center sounded great at first and as a former science teacher my thoughts were positive,” said Alumbaugh. “However, with the economy and the deficit to consider, I don’t think now is the time to begin such a project.”
Alumbaugh said that along with the upcoming reduction in personnel, there is room in the district’s administration for cuts as well.
“With reductions in personnel inevitable, I think that it is important for students, teachers and support personnel not be the ones absorbing all of the cuts,” said Alumbaugh. “There is plenty of room for cuts higher up. The administration at the top should not be exempt from tightening their belts.”
Alumbaugh taught math at Dulles, Clements and Kempner High Schools and was a lead guidance counselor at Kempner. He has a Bachelor’s degree in math and chemistry and a Master’s degree in Guidance & Counseling. He is a member of St Theresa’s Catholic Church, Ft. Bend Retired Teachers Assoc. and is a neighborhood representative in New Territory.
He has three grandchildren, one a second grader at Walker Station Elementary, one who will begin kindergarten at Walker Station next school year and one who is a couple of years away from starting school.
I just received a call from an Elkins zoned family that said the teacher notifications of lay-offs have already begun. Apparently they are telling them it isn’t budget related but because of lower enrollment. You’d think they could just fess up and admit that it is because they were feeding too many vendors and now owe too much debt and it has impacted the operations budget for the 3rd year in a row (the part of the budget that impacts salaries and what goes on in the campuses). I wonder how they are explaining the declared “financial emergency”. What’s even more interesting is that Jenney thinks that by pushing a couple of new vendor and vendor supporter candidates on the public that we won’t figure out that he plans to keep draining the classroom funds for these big building projects like the “GSTC”. Did anyone catch that perfectly prepared PR release for Mr. Rice, Jenney’s candidate? Apparently he stated that he would not continue to bid on projects if elected like state law left him any option but. It still doesn’t keep vendors who get elected to office from voting on sub-contractors, associates and competitors contracts. Nope the current law doesn’t cover the “other” conflicts of interest when vendors take over your board…….hey that sounds like a good article (Clash of the vendors—oh that’s right, they already made that one called “Clash of the titans”. lol
FBISD board member Bronson definately need to GO!!
I agree with Clay. The budget cuts should start within the administration salaries/positions. Mr. Jenney should offer a reduction in his salary, or follow his buddy Bronson.
We need board members who will speak up, lead by example, not afraid of intimidation by Jenney or Bronson. All the board members left their spines back home, working for their own polictical agenda. We have excellent teachers and bright students within FBISD, but lack true leaders within FBISD Administration.
Clay I do pray you know how to stand up, speak out and boldly challenge the polictical train wreck currently in place (With FBISD board members and Jenney). Questioned the financial numbers, follow the money trail and insist the house is clean, before the board members can eat dinner. If the board members can not find solutions in the best interested of the students and teachers, send them packing.
kbs i found a website and contact info for this candidate. i like what he is saying too:
http://friendsofalumbaugh.blogspot.com/
I like the notion that senior leadership should be the example.
Mr. Clay, the situation is terrible. I hope you can help the district before all the teachers leave to other districts. It is pretty bad.
With the population inflated here, problems will only worsen for the teachers and student achievement.
I had the opportunity to meet Mr. Alumbaugh tonight and he is a well spoken and committed candidate. He had a definite plan and his goals were worthy. He is definitely the friend of the taxpayers and families of the district. These are tough challenges but he seems to be up for it and he knows the business of schooling unlike some.
A good guy!
Have all the incumbents dropped out of this election?
I like the idea of central office administrative cuts he is presenting. There are some fat salaries and layers that could be streamlined. The TASB report actually addresses some of this (not the FBISD version but the actual TASB report).
I want to wish you the best Clay! Give ‘em _ell!
Clay, you might want to look again at that GCST survey from the teachers. They, as did over 60% of all surveyed, believe that the Global Science Center was a very bad and wasteful idea from the getgo.
We must get away from a developer-controlled school board, where every decision involves “how many houses can be sold and development created. The taxpayers cannot continue to support this wasteful and unsustainable system.
I hope you are our man!
Sounds like a very strong platform. I wish him and all the candidates good luck as they try to help get the district out of this mess!