By George Slaughter
Susan Gesoff (Susan Gesoff photo)
Susan Gesoff, an engineer, is seeking re-election to the Position 6 seat on the Katy Independent School District Board of Trustees. She was first elected in 2018.
Gesoff has drawn five opponents. One of them, Rebecca Fox, is a former trustee. The four other candidates are Bonnie Anderson, an assessor quality management analyst; William X. Branch, a truck driver; Garima DGupta, a teacher; and Joe Wojcik, a security investigator and adjunct college professor.
Voters will also decide whether to approve a $676 million bond proposal. The bond package has four propositions:
- Proposition A: New schools, renovations, safety & security and building component replacements, for $591,368,568.
- Proposition B: Classroom & campus technology, for $59,755,242.
- Proposition C: Natatorium for the new High School #10, for $13,842,610.
- Proposition D: Campus athletic building component replacements, for $11,260,000.
Early voting is April 19-29. Election Day is May 1.
1. Why do you want this job?
I was a Katy ISD teacher for six years. Those years with students helped me understand the tremendous challenges of the 21st Century classroom and I became passionate about education and supporting teachers as the ‘front line’ of learning. The rest of my career has been spent in industry and engineering where I have developed skills in budget and contractor management, data analysis, strategy development, and leadership.
I believe this combination of business acumen, critical thinking, and education experience, has made me an effective and well-qualified board member for the past three years. I have gained valuable understanding and experience regarding the processes of a billion-dollar school district, and the Texas education system. I am seeking re-election to continue to serve students and the hardworking teachers and staff who educate them.
My primary focuses are academic achievement and student and teacher well-being. I am pushing for a more rigorous employee feedback loop to enable continuous improvement across all areas in the district. I will continue to support the district’s efforts to keep our facilities secure and fully support our law enforcement chief and his staff in their efforts, especially as they continue working to develop proactive student mental health interventions. Finally, I am passionate about servant leadership and will advocate for staff leadership development in the areas of courageous conversations and authentic listening.
2. Briefly discuss your professional background, and how that will help you if elected.
I began my engineering career working for Boeing Helicopter Company and Texas Instruments Defense Systems in Industrial Engineering. I later worked for American Airlines supporting continuous improvement and then was a founding member of its very first environmental department where I performed air permitting, hazard waste management, and trained staff in OSHA compliance. When we moved to Katy, my three children were small, and I wanted to make a temporary career change and taught 5th grade for six years at Alexander Elementary in Katy. I was proud to have been nominated as New Teacher of the Year and Teacher of the Year during my time at Alexander Elementary. I returned to engineering working for bp and currently I am part of the Wells organization supporting continuous improvement and optimization. Throughout my career I have been closely involved with executive leadership teams and strategy development.
If elected, my well-rounded background in several different industries, coupled with my teaching experience, give me a unique and beneficial skillset to lead Katy ISD as a trustee on the board.
3. If elected, what would your top three priorities for the district be, and why?
- Returning to ‘normal,’ post-COVID school operations and addressing related student learning gaps and mental health challenges.
- Ensuring that the district manages taxpayer funds responsibly to provide excellent educational opportunities for all learners, while continuously meeting the demands for staff and facilities required for the significant, projected enrollment growth.
- Building leadership excellence and driving workforce diversity that better aligns with our community demographics.
4. Do you support the $676 million bond issue that has been put on the ballot? What would you tell undecided voters about it?
Yes, I support the current bone issue. Enrollment is currently 85,000 and according to demographers will exceed 110,000 when Katy is fully built out by 2030. Demographic data helps us understand where enrollment will increase or decrease so that we can optimize the utilization of existing facilities. Rebalancing is accomplished using boundary modification (re-zoning), adding or removing portable buildings or repurposing existing building for other uses.
However, growth continues to exceed capacity, so bonds are needed to finance additional schools and continuously upgrading aging facilities and equipment. The tremendous, concentrated growth in the northeast quadrant is already stressing Katy and Paetow High School feeder patterns. Due to robust financial governance, and conservative management, the passage of this bond will NOT result in a tax increase, but it will provide the needed funds to meet the needs of our growing district.
5. Do you favor establishing a Virtual High School for the district to open in the upcoming school year? Why or why not?
I believe that education, especially for children, is best delivered in a face-to-face hands-on learning environment. For students who have long-term health challenges, the district has an established homebound education program. However, there is pending legislation in Austin that I anticipate may result in a requirement for districts to provide some sort of post-COVID remote learning. If we receive a mandate for remote learning, I would support it at the high school level only, and the remote school would stand on its own, with its own faculty and principal, and remote students would be ranked only against each other.
6. Is there anything else about your candidacy that Katy News readers should know?
Katy ISD has a billion-dollar operating budget, over 11,000 employees, and the responsibility to educate over 85,000 students. The role of the board of trustees is defined clearly as governance and oversight and I take this responsibility very seriously. I am a level-headed, strategic thinker. I strive to be on good terms with everyone and recognize the value of relationship building in influencing positive change. I am not compelled to ‘pop-in’ at schools, show up at events for photo opportunities, or to post or engage broadly on social media.
I have seen dramatic and highly emotional individuals with personal agendas on this board and it has been very divisive. I have no personal agenda or future political aspirations and I believe that a board of trustees should work together, in a business-like manner, for the common good of students.