81: RISD PLACE 2 Candidates Q&A

Amy Johannesen & Dalton Tasset are the two conservative candidates running for Place 2 on the Rockwell Independent School District Board and are here today in the Bunker for some straight talk in hopes of winning the vote of Rockwall County conservatives.

2:14 Introduction of Dalton Tasset
5:16 Introduction of Amy Johannesen

1. Why are you running for RISD School Board?
6:48 Amy Johannesen
7:59 Dalton Tasset

2. What do you see as the school board’s primary role and responsibility?
8:48 Dalton Tasset
17:09 Amy Johannesen

3. As a school board member, who do you see as your primary constituent and how do you intend to make sure that you are listening to their concerns? (Parents, Faculty, Administrators, Taxpayers…?)
17:36 Amy Johannesen
19:48 Dalton Tasset

4. How often do you attend RISD School Board meetings and do you feel that the Board does a good job of representing constituents?
20:23 Dalton Tasset
21:48 Amy Johannesen

5. In your view, what are the best attributes of Rockwall schools?
24:52 Amy Johannesen
26:27 Dalton Tasset

6. What do you see as the biggest challenges facing RISD?
27:17 Dalton Tasset
28:41 Amy Johannesen

7. One of the principal duties of the School Board is to evaluate the performance of the superintendent and hold him accountable. How will you go about doing that?
30:14 Amy Johannesen
31:26 Dalton Tasset

8. Is there a specific issue or set of issues that you wish to focus on if elected?
32:35 Dalton Tasset
34:20 Amy Johannesen

9. Obviously the COVID pandemic has had a dramatic and ongoing impact on education. From your perspective, what has been both the downside & upside to this crisis to education, and what do you believe will be the biggest long-term impact on Rockwall schools?
38:41 Amy Johannesen
40:45 Dalton Tasset

10. RISD instituted the “hybrid model of learning” where high school students with last names A-K attend school in person while those with last names L-Z attend remotely and then swap according to a posted schedule. There were also days when all students attend remotely. Do you think the hybrid model is here to stay and if so, what modifications can be made to improve it? If not, will classroom learning go back to the way it was before?
42:33 Dalton Tasset
44:36 Amy Johannesen

11. Neighboring Garland Independent School District allows parents to choose which school their child attends. How would you feel about giving that right to RISD parents?
45:09 Amy Johannesen
46:50 Dalton Tasset

12. Churches have been removed as a designated “gun-free zone” in Texas and last June, Delegates to the Rockwall County Republican Convention unanimously adopted a platform plank, opposing them, specifically the federal Gun-Free School Zones Act of 1990, which prohibits law-abiding citizens from carrying guns on public school property. This platform position was then adopted by delegates of the Texas Republican Party and is part of the Republican National Platform. If the Texas legislature is successful in repealing the Act, would you support the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens to lawfully carry a firearm on public school property? Why or why not?
47:56 Dalton Tasset
50:44 Amy Johannesen

13. RISD posts nine outcomes that they hold as a goal for every graduate. If you were forced to choose just one (AND ONLY ONE) outcome from the list that best reflects your hope that every student might take away, which would it be and why?
51:52 Amy Johannesen
53:39 Dalton Tasset

Closing Remarks
55:24 Dalton Tasset
59:07 Amy Johannesen