Fort Worth school board District 4 candidates
Daphne Brookins
Campaign website: https://www.daphnebrookins.com/
Age: 53
Occupation: Social Service Specialist
Education: BS- Texas Wesleyan University
Have you run for elected office before? (Please list previous offices sought) *
Yes, FWISD School Board Trustee, Mayor of Forest Hill, City Councilman of Forest Hill
Please list highlights of your civic involvement (for example, service on boards/commissions or leadership positions held): *
FWISD School Board Trustee, District 4
One Star National Service Commissioner (Gov. Appt.)
Mayor Pro Tem, City of Forest Hill
City Councilman, City of Forest Hill
YMCA Metropolitan Board Member
Young Women’s Leadership Academy, Board VP
Texas Governor’s Committee on People with Disabilities
TWU Alumni Board President
Director’s Circle with Girls Inc.
Have you ever been arrested, charged with a crime or otherwise been part of a criminal proceeding? If yes, please explain:
No
Have you been involved in a civil lawsuit or bankruptcy proceeding? If yes, please explain:
No
Who are your top three campaign contributors?
UEA, Good Government Fund (PSEL PAC), Great School Great City PAC
Why are you seeking this office?
After sitting in the District 4 seat for almost 2 years, I could see that there are a lot of issues within our system that needed someone to continue to be a champion for; our children need help academically, socially and emotionally and our community is in turmoil due to Covid 19, inequities and inequalities.
What are the biggest challenges facing your district?
Closing the academic achievement gap, making sure our students have emotional and social support and resources and making sure we stay student focused while continuing to look at all the districts through an equitable lens, especially those schools that are low performing.
What would your top 3 policy priorities be?
Closing the academic gap while re-cooperating learning loss, making sure our students are safe and are supported socially and emotionally and maintaining racial equity and transparent autonomy and communication between districts, the students, parents and community.
Why should voters choose you over your opponent(s)?
I am a passionate, strong agent of change for our next generation and I feel with my 20 plus years of experiences in social services, education and governmental relations that I am that candidate that can look at issues from several different view points and help come up with a solid solution while being an asset to the school board.
What are the biggest challenges facing your school district overall and the specific schools you seek to represent?
The biggest challenges we are facing in my district are trying to close the achievement gaps, addressing student’s social and emotional needs, academic learning loss. The specific schools that I will be closely monitoring will be Morningside Middle (LAN), Glencrest 6th Grade (LAN partnership with Texas Wesleyan), which are both learning academy schools and OD Wyatt.
If you have children, do/did they attend school in the district? If not, why not?
Yes, both of my children attended FWISD schools
What’s the best way to help students recover from learning lost to the pandemic?
Making sure that the students have enough PPE to be safe so they can return to in person instruction, that they have social and emotional support and by making sure our students are provided adequate connectivity and equitable distribution of devices to every child in the District that is learning virtually, especially those in our lowest performing schools so they can recover academically.
As the pandemic wanes, how should Fort Worth schools use virtual instruction, if at all?
I don’t believe we will ever go back to the days of all in person instruction. There are a lot of students that are doing well with virtual instruction, however there are more that are not. We can utilize virtual to help those that are behind by utilizing both in person and virtual opportunities in order to help them get caught up.
Should the district attempt to significantly raise teacher pay? If so, how much, and how would you pay for it?
I would support a significant raise for our teachers up to $70,000. Our teachers have taken on extra duties teaching virtually and in person and it is a shame that some still have to supplement their income on top of those extra duties. As a board, we agreed to utilize our TRE that was passed to hire and retain great teachers so that would be a start.
School district taxes are the biggest driver of homeowners’ property taxes. Should the district try to reduce taxes and if so, what would you cut?
Because FWISD just had a TRE tax rate ratification, and homeowners are still trying to re-cooperate from the aftermath effects of Covid, that would be something that would have to be considered by the district at another time.
How would you rate the performance of the superintendent and his leadership team? What changes would you like to see him make?
The superintendent Dr. Scribner and his leadership team had put together some solid plans to help combat the academic learning gap and racial inequalities prior to Covid 19. But now because of Covid 19 and school closings, we have lost learning time and are having to make some adjustments in order to reach our goals. While staying student focused, we will need the support of the community partners, stakeholders and parents to overcome challenges that our children have faced because of this pandemic.
What problems do you see with the district’s communication with parents and the community, and/or with its transparency of operations? What would you do to improve that?
I believe our communication is getting better, and I do understand that some things can come up at the last minute, however I would like to see us work better on consistency and timing. Also, for those parents who are not technologically savvy, I would like to see FWISD have some kind of training or overview on how to utilize the technology that their children have so everyone can be on the same page.
Wallace Bridges
Did not respond.
