Candidates

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SMITH: Public School should be the first choice for kids. LHISD is a huge part of the community and provides so many opportunities for kids to learn and grow.

CARTER: In Texas, about 90% of the eligible students attend public schools. The school districts can only be as great as their leadership and the school policies that are implemented. Luckily Liberty Hill has some of the best leadership and great policies that help our students become Panther champions.

CANAS: Public schools are crucial to individual students, community, and national success; everyone can accomplish their dreams and be productive citizens. Public schools are one of the most important functions of government and play a significant role in developing the future leaders of the United States. Public education has been known as the great equalizer, giving all children the same opportunities. To learn regardless of the neighborhood in which they live. All students and faculty should feel welcomed in our district and be given the tools to reach their full potential. School boards should serve the best interest of all students, school faculty, and the community. Trustees must be forward thinkers and invite all parties to collaborate to make the best strategic decisions for our district.

NEIGHBORS: I am the product of a smalltown public education system, and for the most part I love the systems in place. Do they need improvement in areas? Sure, everything does. But I feel its success requires a balance of parent involvement and teachers who are passionate about teaching. I feel like we have gotten away from these two basic tenants of public education. We need parents to be engaged, active participants in their children’s education, which plays a major role in student success. At the same time, we need to attract and retain great teachers, while also providing the tools they need to thrive.

LHI: What personal strengths or professional qualifications would make you a good candidate for Trustee?

CANADY: Over the last year, I have been attending school board meetings and served on the Student Health Advisory Council. At these meetings, I have learned about the process of how money is spent by the board, how curriculum gets created or purchased, and how policies are created. This will help me serve the board effectively and be able to create policies that protects our small-town values. My career has prepared me to be a board member during this time of huge growth in our district. I have project management skills that include: managing a team of people, being a project manager for the construction of large electrical substations, ordering and delivering equipment, working with contractors, and navigating chronic supply chain crisis during covid and acute supply chain issues during storms. These skills will benefit the school board while building new schools and managing finances responsibly.

MILAM: As a resident of Liberty Hill for over 7 years and a parent of 3 children in LHISD, I have a deep understanding of our communities values and culture, and I am committed to ensuring that our schools provide the best possible education to our kids. In the community I served on the Board of the Liberty Hill Youth Baseball League, I also am a substitute teacher in the district and help when I can and also most recently served on the Long Range planning committee that focused on the future growth and what our needs are for the upcoming bond election. Professionally, I have been in the construction industry for over 20 years which I feel would be a great resource for the current & future construction to ensure that we are being fiscally responsible with the budget for construction.

SMITH: According to LHISD policy, the qualifications for school board are to be over the age of 18 and live in the district boundaries. I meet both of those requirements. Other than that, you have to make decisions, along with the other board members that will be in the best interest of the children.

CARTER: As a National Account Manager, I work with home builders, manage multi-million dollar contracts, etc. Some of the skills and knowledge transfer directly to our ISD as we work to partner with builders coming into our district. Having the ability to obtain key contacts from the builders is information I have and can get to help out district. Also, I have an understanding that being on the school board isn’t about me - this is about the students and how are we, as a school board, going to work as team to make the best decisions for the kids. Another thing I try to do is engage the community to have meaningful discussions were I listen to the feedback and suggestions from everyone.

CANAS: I am a lifelong learner; I earned my dual Bachelor of Arts degree in History and Political Science in 2009, 2016 I completed a Master’s Degree in political science in 2016 from the University of West Florida with a 3.6 GPA, and in 2022 I completed a certificate in Disaster and Emergency Management Graduate Certificate. My love for serving did not end with my retirement from the military; instead, it has expanded. Last year I started employment with the State of Texas with an agency that deals with emergencies. My volunteer work is extensive, and I am a member of a disaster relief group called Team Rubicon. Most of the Team Rubicon members are retired military members and first responders. Team Rubicon assisted in the mitigation requirements of Williamson County Parks and Recreations and ensured our community in Liberty Hill was represented. I am a youth mentor for a Williamson County mentoring program, RESET. As a member of the Reset Mentoring program, I have mentored multiple at-risk teenagers needing someone who would be there for them and guide them in the right direction aimed at reducing recidivism and elevating them to the next step to fostering life-long success., I also serve as a catechist at Saint; a catechist passes on to students a set of Christian shared meanings and values. Finally, I am very involved in my community and was a critical member of the Lively Ranch community preparing for our yearly community garage sale. My education, work experiences, and community involvement make me a well-rounded candidate for this position. My skill set is broad and will lend to the planning for our district.

NEIGHBORS: Early in my career, I served at the Texas State Capitol as a Legislative Aide for Senator Teel Bivins, ushering bills into law, meeting with lobbyists and citizens from our district, and working with groups on all sides to work together for the common good. I sat on the Business and Commerce and International Relations and Trade committees and assisted Senator Bivins in his role as chairman of the Finance Committee. I also own two companies in the area—an artificial turf company I started from the ground up 15 years ago and a real estate holding company that develops land and builds commercial properties. For both companies, I have considerable experience in construction and development and served as the General Contractor. And finally, my proudest contribution to LHISD is my love for kids. I have served as a youth leader at my church for the past 15 years. My wife and I have been in the trenches with kids from all backgrounds and understand the challenges they face on a day-to-day basis. We consider it a blessing to pour our time and hearts into kids and I can say that is what I most look forward to bringing to LHISD.

LHI: What are the school district’s biggest challenges with continued fast growth, and how would you propose they be addressed?

CANADY: Two challenges we face areSchool Safety- The district has had to add more portables this year due to outgrowing current campuses. Portables are not as safe as permanent structures. Portables make keeping exterior doors locked more difficult and hinders our security. Staying ahead of the growth by building more schools will decrease our need for portables and increase student safety. The district added a police officer to each campus this year and I feel this was a great addition to our safety measures. I would like to see this continued.

Small-Town Feel- As our district grows, I want to make sure we do not lose our small-town, big heart feel. I have heard people from Rancho and Santa Rita schools say their schools feel overlooked and are worried that when the second high school is opened it will get worse. As a board member, I will focus on making sure all campuses in the district follow the same set of standards that keep LH values strong. This will create unity. I will continue to focus on all schools, no matter where they are located within our district.

MILAM: In my view, the biggest challenges facing our school district are managing growth while preserving our values and culture, ensuring that we have the resources and talent we need to provide our students with the best possible education, and promoting transparency and accountability in our schools. We need to take a thoughtful and strategic approach to managing growth in our district, which includes developing a long- term plan for accommodating new students and ensuring that our facilities are equipped to meet the needs of a growing and diverse student population. We need to make sure that our schools are preserving the values and culture that make Liberty Hill such a special place to live and learn. This includes promoting respect while also fostering a sense of community and shared purpose. We need to ensure that we have the resources and talent we need to provide our students with the best possible education. This includes investing in our teachers, providing them with the resources and support they need to succeed, and attracting and retaining the best talent possible to our district. We need to be transparent and open about how our schools are performing and make sure that we are using taxpayer dollars responsibly. This includes regular communication with parents and the community, providing accurate and timely information about our schools, and holding ourselves accountable.

SMITH: I would the biggest challenge is having new schools ready in time for the upcoming school years. We have a lot of new kids coming to the district and we need to be able to have room for the kids. These new schools will allow the district to keep a low student to teacher ratio. We are asking the voters to pass this bond. These funds will allow the district to build a new high school and improve campus security and fund new technology devices for our kids.

CARTER: Fast growth districts face a lot of challenges - hiring enough teachers, attracting the best talent, building new schools and facilities, maintaining the identity and integrity of the district as you grow, etc - just to name a few. 2 key components that LHISD continues to do well is communicate as much information as possible to the parents, teachers, and entire district, and the second is using committees to make sure we are getting the input from the community regarding the most important items - bond, dress code, school zoning, etc.

CANAS: As our community expands, with new residents and students, the community needs an equal voice and representation; this can be accomplished by creating single-member districts. I believe consideration should be given to creating single-member districts. Single-member districts would: provide voters with strong constituent representation by giving each voter a single, easily identifiable district representative; encourage constituent services by providing voters with an easily recognizable ‘ombudsman’ (public advocate; give voters the ability to hold their representative accountable through the election process; and lastly, it ensures geographic representation. Our current school board makeup should represent our community areas; residents in the developing area between Ronald Reagan and Highway 183 do not appear to have board member representation. We should study the advantage of creating member districts. This is a legislative year, and no doubt the Texas Legislature will pass significant bills that will impact the operation of our school district, with many decisions to be made by the school board. I am ready to work with my fellow trustees and all stakeholders to determine how to implement best any new requirements imposed by the state.

NEIGHBORS: Purchasing land, developing buildings, balancing student/teacher headcounts, and preserving the Panther Nation culture are all easy things to consider. But as I meet with teachers and administrators from around the district, I believe one of the biggest challenges is one of the easiest to overlook. As LHISD continues to grow, consistency across the school district, particularly in policies and enforcement of policies, is the framework that everything else is built upon. I would like to work on developing clear and consistent messages on all our policies (operations, educational standards, expectations) and enforce those policies to ultimately create a more positive and productive learning environment for everyone.

LHI: Identify an issue regarding district or campus management that you believe needs improvement and explain what a difference you could make if elected.

CANADY: The biggest challenge our district management is facing is the current staff shortages. With new schools opening and more positions to fill this problem is going to get worse before it gets better. We need to get creative with our compensation packages for new teachers, as well as, retaining current teachers and staff. Even with the 8.3% raise the board put in place last year, our teacher salaries are lower than neighboring districts. We need to increase our pay scale to be competitive with other districts. Working at a company with over 100 employees, I am used to working within budgets to get creative with compensation to recruit and maintain staff. I can take that experience and aid in the development of compensation plans to help the district attract and retain more people. If we can find ways to set LHISD apart from our surrounding districts, we can increase teacher morale and retention rate. Happy teachers that stay with our district long term will give our students the best education.

MILAM: The Biggest issue facing our district right now is managing growth while preserving the core values and culture that makes Liberty Hill such a special place. I would say Keeping the Culture and values as the core to everything we do in all decisions is vital and the other ways we can do that is by passing the upcoming bond. The bond is critical because it will provide the funding we need to update and improve our facilities, build new schools, and improve infrastructure. These projects are essential to ensuring that our kids have access to a quality education and that our schools are equipped to meet the needs of a growing community. That’s why passing the bond is so important. It’s an investment in the future of our schools and our community, and it’s essential to ensuring that Liberty Hill remains a great place to live and raise a family. As your representative on the board I will ensure that we don’t ever forget where we came from or how we got here. I stand up for what I believe in and I am not afraid to voice it.

SMITH: The great thing about being a member of the school board is we have amazing administrators and staff at each school. Mr. Snell is very involved with the campuses and is able to solve 99.9% of the problems before it reaches the board level. People have to realize that 1 person cannot make a difference by themselves. It takes all members of the school board to work together. Again, the children have to be and remain your #1 priority.

CARTER: One of the items we are working on with Mr. Snell is building his administrative staff to a level it needs to be for a district of our size. We are working with Mr. Snell to make sure he has enough support with his staff so each campus can be supported. The direct result will be that the kids in our district will continue to be the leaders in our community, our region, and our state.

CANAS: One improvement item is how funding is allocated to ensure all our campuses are equally and appropriately equipped with educational materials and safety measures. Our teachers continue to be overworked and underpaid. How will we compete if our teachers make as much as their students? In addition, I will ensure that when bonds are proposed, we are not just kicking our debt with a never-ending payment date because, as a resident, I’m concerned it will never go away if we keep adding last-minute surprises or similar bond requests over and over.

NEIGHBORS: Again, it may not be sleek and attractive to talk about, but communicating and enforcing the basic house rules, or the policies, of the district need to remain a top priority. Policies maintain a safe and positive learning environment for students and teachers, alike. They establish expectations for everyone—teachers, students, coaches, administrators and so forth. I feel my political background, business insight and experience with kids make me a great fit for school board and I look forward to the opportunity in developing a strong foundation of communication at LHISD.