Twenty-three years ago this month, Melanie and I moved into our first home in Frisco. My mom, then a teacher for Frisco ISD, turned us on to this burgeoning town of roughly 35,000. Melanie and I were engaged and looking for a place to plant roots. Frisco was small but growing, wide open but close enough to needed conveniences, and full of possibility.
For a kid fresh out of college with a bent for civics, it didn’t take long to realize two things. One: The people here were focused on building something different. Two: This would be a great place to raise children. Mel and I never looked back.
In the years since, that interest in government led us to meet and work alongside so many gracious and talented individuals with the same vision of molding Frisco and its namesake school district into what it has become today.
I have been blessed to have the opportunity to serve the residents of Frisco on several boards and commissions: Frisco’s Parks Board, Community Development Corporation, Economic Development Corporation, and Charter Review Commission. During this time, we brought to fruition projects like Bacchus Park, B.F. Phillips Park, the Frisco Athletic Center, and The Star. Graduating from (into?) the Chamber of Commerce’s Leadership Frisco program, sweet class XVI provided an unparalleled learning experience alongside fellow residents and members of the business community. With the benefit of hindsight, I found growth through the lessons learned during an unsuccessful Frisco City Council run twelve years ago. All these experiences led me to a place I wouldn’t have predicted when that young married couple chose to make Frisco home.
Next spring will mark the completion of my tenth year serving the residents of the Frisco Independent School District as a member of the Board of Trustees. In that time, I will have worked alongside fifteen different board colleagues, two superintendents, and spent two years as board president. Through it all, our unwavering priority has been the promotion of student opportunity. We have added programs such as International Baccalaureate and the Navy National Defense Cadet Corps. We have expanded AP course offerings, dual credit courses, and CTE industry certifications. We will have opened twenty-two new campuses to accommodate over 20,000 new students – keeping our high schools smaller than the North Texas average thereby giving more kids the opportunity to shine. Providing more places for students to engage with their peers, discover their interests, develop their talents, and learn about the world they will inherit are all at the heart of how this district has attracted new residents from around the globe.
The job has not been easy. It has undoubtedly come with so many highs. As a board, we get a front row seat witnessing student victories on the field, on the stage, in the classroom, and in the boardroom. The job has come with so many battles as well. Being entrusted with your neighbors’ children as well as a portion of their pocketbook invites many opinions and criticisms. Public education has always been a battlefield, but it deserves support as a fundamental underpinning of stability in our society. I am proud to be a product of a public-school education and to champion its support politically and financially.
After eighteen years of continuous service on a civic board or commission, the time has come to shift focus. Melanie and I celebrated the graduation of our oldest this year from Liberty High School and are excited to have a front row seat for our youngest’s final three years in Frisco ISD. Therefore, I have decided not to seek re-election to the Board of Trustees next spring.
The job of trustee is one I feel incredibly lucky to have had for this long. It has certainly been a family affair. Melanie and my two daughters have been right by my side throughout, and I am so thankful to have been able to include them in the many joys of this service. Their support and understanding have played an integral role through all its trials as well. Without them, the job would have been impossible.
Frisco ISD is a special place – one worth holding out as a model of success and one worth fighting for. Thank you for giving me your trust and allowing me to serve you. I look forward to a strong finish in the ‘23-’24 school year, supporting those to whom the baton is passed, and finding new ways to serve.