BRYAN BARTLETT

I was born and raised here in Canadian and graduated from CISD in 2004. After I graduated, I attended West Texas A&M University until I moved back to Canadian in 2007. I married my wife, Lea, in 2012 and have been blessed with two children, Remi and Case. Remi is in the third grade and enjoys science, while Case is in the first and enjoys math. I’m the vice president of Bartlett’s Lumber, have been a member of the Canadian Volunteer Fire Department for five years, and I also serve on the board for the Canadian Economic Development Council.

ALLEN HADAWAY

I graduated from Edmond High School in 1976. I attended the University of Oklahoma, graduating in 1982, with a B.S. in petroleum engineering. My first job out of college was with Mesa Petroleum (Mr. T. Boone Pickens), in Amarillo, as a drilling and completion engineer. In 1985, my wife, Christina, and I moved to Canadian, and I worked for C.W. Kelly Jr. Inc. In 1990, we opened Hadaway Engineering Inc. (engineering consulting company). I am a registered professional engineer in the state of Texas. We have three children who graduated from Canadian High School (2006, 2010, 2021). With the increase in the oil and gas prices, and the higher tax revenue that comes with it, there will be more opportunities for CISD to sustain the quality and also improve the quality of education for its students.

ANDY ORRELL

Thank you for this opportunity. I am running for my second term on the school board. I am a graduate of Northwestern Oklahoma State University. Northwestern is where I met my wife, Penny. We have two great kiddos: our daughter, Morgan, a ninth-grader at CHS, and our son, Tyson, a sixth-grader at CMS. In my career, I have worked as a financial advisor with American Express Financial; as a trader on the trading desk at Abraham Trading Company; and since 2010, for Mewbourne Oil Co., where I am currently an environmental representative. I have been an active member of the Canadian Volunteer Fire Department since 2005. Thank you, Canadian Record, for keeping us all informed. Y’all are an invaluable resource to our school district. Thanks to my fellow candidates for looking to support our community and school by serving.

BRANDON REEVES

I am asking for your vote for school board trustee. Born and raised in the Texas Panhandle, I understand local and regional perspectives on issues that affect us. My wife and I have four adult children, all living fulfilling and independent lives. Having graduated several kids in partnership with CISD, we’ve had a multitude of opportunities to grow and appreciate all the dimensions that influence and prepare a child for lifelong success. I want to take an active part in making sure the children of tomorrow have at least as good, and hopefully, a better launching ground for success as my children enjoyed, thanks to wise people before me who planned an avenue to benefit their generation.

LARRY SMITH

I have lived in Canadian for basically my entire life. My wife is Cheri. I am a CISD graduate, and I have two children who have recently graduated from here. I have worked for Abraham Trading Company for 27 years. I have served as a trustee of the Canadian ISD for the past nine years. Three of those years, I served as the board president. Currently, I serve as the school representative on the Hemphill County Appraisal District Board.

BRAD WARREN

Cassi (Brown) and I married in 2019, and we have 5 children together, ranging from a 22-year-old senior at WT to an 8-year-old second-grader at CES. We attend the Canadian Church of Christ here in Canadian where I am actively involved on the men’s ministry team. Professionally, I have been in oil and gas electronics for 18 years, and I am currently the business development manager for Champion Automation in Perryton. I have international business experiences in North America as well as Asia and Europe. I also help Cassi with TR Cattle Company as the retail beef outlet for her family's ranch, TR Land & Cattle out of McLean.

 

What motivates you to become a school board trustee?

BB: As a Canadian ISD graduate, I want to be able to give back to the community that has had such a positive influence in my life. I hope to ensure that same level of positivity for the next generation.

AH: I love living in Hemphill County and care deeply about the future of the County and CISD.

AO: I am very proud to live and raise my family in Canadian. We have a great school system in Canadian. Our school system is not a product of luck. We have had strong leadership in our school district for many years. I felt a duty to work to continue the tradition of excellence at CISD for our students, staff, and the taxpayers for years to come.

BR: As I described, I have great appreciation for the hard decisions made, by conscientious and invested citizens before me, to leverage our district to be a beacon of investment in our children’s future. I want to continue in that tradition.

LS: Being a board trustee is an opportunity to serve our community. This community and school provided a great education and many opportunities for me and my children. Hopefully my service has, and will be, a benefit to CISD.

BW: Leadership is not about authority, it’s about responsibility. I have never believed things are more urgent than they are right now, and educating our youth with passion, respect, and accountability is of utmost importance. We must educate in ways that children can understand, comprehend, retain, and then USE in their life after they leave. We have to create a passion for learning and find ways to focus more on writing. Actual thought-inducing, drafting, thought-provoking writing, rewriting, and painstaking edits are the only way we can teach our young people to think for themselves. It must be the primary tool in their belt when they leave. If we are not focused on writing, we are stealing their future from them. We are taking away their only route to free thought, free speech, and freedom in spirit. We are setting them up for failure, no exceptions. Helping our kids build the art of constantly editing their own beliefs and thoughts gives them the ability and freedom to crystallize, in their own mind, exactly how they feel about something and why. It is the bedrock of living authentically among your fellow humans with compassion and sympathy.

What particular skills and strengths would you bring to the school board as a trustee?

BB: I’m a business-minded, goal-oriented, and meticulous individual. I believe that my business experience will make me a valuable asset to the board by being able to analyze issues of all shapes and sizes.

AH: My whole 37-year career has been researching, designing, and implementing projects for clients and advising them on the best way to spend hundreds of millions of dollars on their projects. I intend to bring this experience to the CISD board.

AO: Over the past three years, I have gained a strong understanding of the workings of our district. I am up to speed with the business the board conducts. I am a good listener and an open-minded individual. I feel I share the same conservative values and beliefs as our community.

BR: Growing up with ADD in an era before it was recognized, I look back in awe at how my elementary teachers instinctively understood how to position me in an environment that fostered my learning. I think that experience uniquely qualifies me as a person who not only understands the vastness of the learning spectrum, but also the investment teachers make to reach every student where they are.

As an adult, I’ve been able to focus intently on new challenges until I understand and appreciate arguments both for and against any particular subject. Objectivity is the result. I can be objective about a subject, putting aside my personal thoughts and feelings in service to the higher goal of finding common ground.

LS: I have work experience in finance. More specifically, being a board member for nine years, I have a good working knowledge of the school finance system. With this knowledge, I have been able to help keep local tax dollars in our community.

BW: I have served one term on both the Canadian City Council and Hemphill County EDC, and I understand how a board needs to serve by example. I have also held C-Level positions at private companies for the last 12 years. I strive to be approachable, authentic, transparent, compassionate, and thoughtful. A good board needs to provide vision, policy, oversight, and accountability based on the values of the community and hold upper management accountable for their strategies, plans, and management.

What are the biggest challenges facing Canadian ISD in the next five years? How do you hope to address them?

BB: I believe that revenue is one of the biggest issues for our district in the immediate future. During the past few years, revenue across the county has declined, which has negatively impacted our community. As a member of the school board, I plan to make every penny count by being diligent in weighing the needs and wants of the district.

AH: Local control of tax money obtained from tax payers of Hemphill County is a big challenge that we currently face, and will continue to struggle with in the coming years. I will work hard to ensure that CISD keeps as much of the tax revenue as possible within our school system.

AO: Like most small districts, we are challenged by declining enrollment, staffing, and funding. All three of these challenges need to be successfully juggled by trustees. As a board, we should do everything we can to push each of these concerns in our favor.

Enrollment: We need to make sure we create an environment that is welcoming to all students. We need to have an amazing staff, programs, and opportunities that not only attract and retain our current student population, but also any potential students.

Staffing: I do not want to steal Question 5’s thunder. We need to leave no stone unturned to make sure Canadian is the place great teachers want to be.

Funding: This is a tough one. It is fair to say that state funding rules/mandates are an ever-moving target. Historically Canadian has been an out-of-the-box thinker when it comes to funding. I believe we need to continue to be innovators, ensuring we are not overburdening our tax base and continuing to be good stewards of those tax dollars.

BR: The future is really hard to predict. I can imagine an influx of migratory traffic due to climate change, and the need to figure out how the bilingual space may need to expand in a world of increasingly nebulous borders. The majority in the state Legislature also seems intent on eliminating property taxes in the future, which will require local districts to completely retool everything about a school’s finances.

LS: I believe attracting and retaining top staff will be a big challenge facing CISD. This is also a huge challenge statewide. There is a teacher shortage in Texas, and therefore, competition for talent is high. Fortunately, CISD has planned for maintaining salaries at a relatively high level for several years to come, but we need to continue to work to keep local tax dollars. Also, our school and community need to continue to find ways to improve our community. I was a part of the Canadian Broadband Initiative group (School, City, County, and EDC/Chamber) that helped bring PTCI fiber. Public entities need to continue to work together to improve our community.

BW: Questions 3, 4, and 5 are related in my opinion. The biggest challenge, by far, is staff retention. One of my all-time favorite quotes is by Mike Tyson. “Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.” I believe COVID punched everyone in the mouth, and we all have to figure out how to live in this new reality. The truth is it hit our schools very hard and taxed our staff at an unprecedented level. I am afraid COVID increased the socioeconomic disparity between different families in our community. As a community, we have forgotten what we want to do and who we want to be. We have let a shrinking tax base, downturns, recessions, layoffs, and a pandemic make us forget who we are. I know it’s hard, but we are Canadian. We used to be the jewel in the crown of the Panhandle of Texas. Together, we can get back to where we need to be. We can serve by example and produce self-aware, community-minded, thoughtful students that take their next steps in life with courage and determination. Some of them will hopefully come back and lead the next generation.

Should trustees seek out the views of parents, teachers, and community members regarding the decisions the board is making? Please explain.

BB: Absolutely, we are elected to represent our community and their values, and to apply that to the education of their children. Canadian ISD currently has a committee dedicated to improving communication between community members and the district. They gather parents, staff, and members of the community to share ideas, concerns, and the progress of the district. The old adage goes, “It takes a village to raise a child,” and I would encourage any community member to reach out to the board with any ideas or concerns they may have.

AH: From my experience, the parents, teachers, and community members will seek out the board members regarding the board’s decisions. I think it is important to listen to the point of view of all, and to use good judgement and good common sense in the decisionmaking process.

AO: YES! I am asking for parents, teachers, and community members to vote for me. In doing so, I am also asking for their help. In order to make informed decisions, one needs to be enlightened. If I am fortunate enough to be elected, I am asking for everyone’s help in staying informed.

BR: I believe listening to the voice of the community is important, and that parents should have a voice. That said, most of whatever opinions the community might have on a subject would more likely fall under the purview of the administration. The board isn’t running day-to-day operations, and wouldn’t generally be the avenue for those concerns to be addressed.

LS: Absolutely! Parents, teachers, and community members are primary stakeholders in our school. The school board serves each person in this community whether taxpayer, student, parent, or employee. Board members work for the community, and therefore, should be attentive to all.

BW: 100% YES! All of the time. The board cannot provide vision, policy, oversight, and accountability based on the values of the community without first talking to the community. If the board is operating as it should, it will reflect the community and implement the vision. Decisions at a board level should be made only after all the appropriate community and staff have at least weighed in on the decision at hand. Management should be very familiar with how strategies and plans are being carried out in the classrooms throughout the schools and measured for their effectiveness. Being a trustee isn’t only about the budget, although that’s important, it must be how to facilitate who the community wants to be when it grows up. We have to invest in that vision from top to bottom. This is also why the school board is one of my favorite boards. If the teachers and parents get together and decide who to vote for, they can absolutely deter-mine who they want to serve them as a trustee. The ratio of employee/parent voters to all other voters is very high compared to larger communities, so we can affect change very quickly.

Do you believe maintaining teachers’ salaries at the top end of the area pay scale must be a priority, in order to recruit and hire the best teachers in their field? Please explain.

BB: I believe in being competitive and having the best and most qualified staff possible. Unfortunately, our community’s economy is reliant upon the price of oil and natural gas, and as everyone knows, we go through cycles of boom and bust. There will be times where our community can afford to be competitive, but there will also be times where the district won’t be able to match what other districts are paying. As a school board trustee, I believe that the education of our children starts with having the most qualified staff, and will always make them a top priority.

AH: In order to compete to get and retain excellent teachers, we need to pay a top salary. With the increase in oil and gas prices, I think CISD will be able to do this. But I also understand we have to be aware of the budget and what CISD can afford.

AO: Yes, if we expect the best from our staff, we need to return our best. Not only do we need to strive to be as competitive as possible financially, but we also need to make up as much ground as possible by supporting our staff in other ways. There will be instances where we fall short. If I am a board member, I will do my best to recognize those challenges and support the staff as well as the tax base. I believe we always have opportunities to listen to our staff and to learn of other areas of improvement to make their jobs more rewarding and satisfying.

BR: Without hesitation, absolutely yes. Personally, I believe teacher salaries should be—if not the highest priority—then included in the shortest of lists. I believe the aggressive investment in teachers provides a higher return on investment than anything else in the budget, and should be the first application of windfall and the last considered cut. Every dollar we spend as a district is made less valuable if we don’t retain the cream of the crop in our educators. We should consistently be looking for ways to recruit and retain the best, and that means paying them their worth, which is immeasurable.

LS: As mentioned is question 3, I believe CISD needs to be extremely competitive. The state funding formulas are set at a narrow range of dollars/student. Because of this, small rural schools are at a competitive disadvantage due to economies of scale. Although we are likely competing with other small rural communities, we need to maintain top pay to recruit statewide.

BW: It is a factor, but it is not the only factor. Employee retention studies over the last 20 years determine that pay, although important, is rarely at the top of the list. It’s usually third behind workplace culture and benefits. Workplace culture includes morale and recognition as well as clearly defined and attainable goals coupled with accountability and personal development. We have to be consistent with our accountability; nothing kills morale faster than favoritism. Recognition has to be all day, every day, and consistent at employee reviews. The higher you rank in the chain of responsibility, the bigger cheerleader you have to be. We cannot just recognize people once a year at an awards ceremony either. We have to earn the trust of the front-line workers by listening and creating systematic and effective communication about how to consistently make things better. Success is a path, not the destination. People will work very hard when they believe in the vision of leadership and know they are a part of something bigger than themselves. They’ll work very hard for something to which they actually contribute and their ideas are heard or at the very least validated. The employees have to be made a part of the solution, not merely cogs in the machine.

Canadian ISD has a long history of success in extracurricular activities involving both athletics and academics. If elected to the board, how will you address concerns of inadequate/unequal funding and support for the full array of extracurricular pursuits?

BB: Canadian ISD has historically been very fortunate to receive sufficient resources to provide for all extracurricular activities. It would be interesting to look at the numbers and compare what each program received and what they requested. However, some activities are going to require more funding than others due to the equipment needed and the number of participants. I’m sure there are adjustments to be made to provide adequate funding for all extracurricular activities.

AH: Being a small school system it tough, because you have kids doing multiple activities at the same time. If there was a concern, I would have to study the facts, economics, and effects on students to make a decision.

AO: Once again, I am open to input. Inadequate/unequal seem like a slippery slope. I believe all board members—current as well as future—would be open to hearing about any shortcomings delivered in a constructive manner. I will do all I can to support the full array of extracurricular pursuits.

BR: (Response to 6 & 7 combined) As the motto says, “Excellence: Every Child. Every Day.” Life isn’t fair is a phrase I hear often when it comes to these issues, but that shouldn’t absolve us from trying. Some sports and academic activities are more cost- or time-intensive, but I think we should go out of our way to make sure that if we offer an avenue for a child to become involved in any extracurricular pursuit, it is incumbent upon us to support them fully in that endeavor. Whether we find some kind of percentage equation to make sure we are showing the debate team or student council equal support—and that their passion is both laudable and worthy of our investment—we should have in place at least a base standard to see them through as far as they can achieve. Every kid is deserving of that kind of commitment.

LS: If there is inadequate/unequal funding and support, I will address it by first identifying any specific concern. If your child competes in a UIL/extracurricular event, and you believe it is underfunded, please let me know. CISD funds UIL activities at a high level. UIL is an extremely competitive organization, and we support this competition from district to state. Because of our size, we cannot offer ALL UIL opportunities. However, CISD offers other activities outside of UIL. This includes FFA, FCCLA, Robotics, etc. Funding is limited to district through state competition for these organizations and may limit the travel range and number of events to equivalent UIL competitions.

BW: I think we definitely need to take a look at it, all of it. Will we have money in the budget for everything everyone wants to do? No. Do we need to figure out a way to help all the students that advance to the regional or state level in extracurricular endeavors? Absolutely. I still find it hard to believe that I read about students that advance in an expertise and then have to figure out a way to raise money to go to the competition. An egregious recent example of this is when a local student was invited to a state level debate and had to pay his own way. Maybe we should only have activities that we can fully support all the way to state, if necessary.

Canadian ISD’s motto is “Excellence: Every Child, Every Day.” What exactly does this motto mean to you? In what way could CISD more effectively realize that motto?

BB: “Excellence: Every Child, Every Day” to me means that we should take a unique approach to each student’s individual needs. Some students will enroll in college, some will attend a trade school, and some will go straight to the workforce. I would like to see us increase the number of classes available to students to prepare them for life after high school. Some districts in our area have implemented more of a trade school approach that allows the students to have certifications in welding, ag science, and even cosmetology when they graduate. I think these additions would greatly benefit our students and our community by better preparing them for post-high school life.

AH: This means to me that every child should have a chance at success. No matter if they are going to continue their education or enter the work force, they need to be prepared for their future. I think at the current time, CISD does a very good job in accessing the student’s needs and ambitions for their course after high school. I am concerned that there have been a few students over the past few years that have left the CISD system for another school system. These cases need to be looked at to determine if there is something CISD is missing, and if so, then to fix it.

AO: As a board member, it means doing all I can to help support the administrators, teachers, and staff to deliver for every child, every day. I will help search for solutions to overcome obstacles that create cracks in our school system.

BR: (See response to previous question)

LS: CISD wants every child to reach their highest level of excellence, and we work towards this every day. Overall school excellence is evident here in Canadian. As I have served on this board, I have become more aware of the “Every Child” aspect of the motto. I am always concerned about the student that hasn’t found his/her “thing.” Since I have been on the board, CISD has expanded opportunities for all kids. We have greatly expanded our CTE (career and technology education) with courses and/or extracurricular in healthcare, robotics, etc. It is my goal that every child has their opportunity for excellence. Go Cats!

BW: Certainly a motto needs to be something to which we aspire. We won’t hit it every day, but we can rest easily when we try. I want to see the vision laid out. What does excellence look like? What are the strategies that help us pour into that vision? What are the plans that feed the strategies? What are the goals that show us we are executing the plan correctly? How does each goal look in the classroom, playground, cafeteria, ballfield, stage, etc.? Leadership is not about authority, it’s about responsibility.

EDITOR’S NOTE: We appreciate the candidates’ willingness to answer these questions, most of which were posed by members of the public who submitted them for our consideration. We hope this helps voters better-informed decisions about who they elect to public office.