Richard Beaver - Frisco ISD School Trustee

It has been an honor for me to serve the community and students of Frisco ISD since I was first elected to the School Board in May 2002. We have undergone a period of intense growth and improvements within our district.

Serving as a School Trustee is a leadership position. It is not our job to write curriculum or to supervise operations of the schools. The Superintendent serves as the CEO (Chief Executive Officer) and has responsibility for operations. It is extremely important for the successful operations of our schools that Board Members remember their roles and allow the professional educators to perform their job.

I have created a single web page which describes the roles of Board Members and the Superintendent. See Roles of the Board in the left side menu.

Stated as succinctly as I can, here are my 2008 priorities as a school board trustee (to learn more, I ask that you please read My 2008 Priorities web page):

• We must Foresee and Prepare for the Growth
• We must attract and retain the best teachers
• We must equip and support our teachers
• We must maximize the educational experience of each and every student
• We must have the community involved -- "It takes a village to raise a child"

Qualifications

• Experience
  • I have served Frisco ISD during the highest growth phase in our history and it’s not over yet. My six years on the board in general and the Long Range Planning/Capital Improvements/Site Committee in particular gives me the experience to help the district during this period of intense growth. This committee helps develop long-range plans for facilities and programs, reviews architectural plans on new construction and renovations/additions; assists the administrative staff in locating school sites, deciding where to build and when, and in establishing attendance zones. I am also chairman of the budget committee which has one of the highest learning curves of any of our board activities.
• Involvement
  • My wife and I have had children in the district for 11 years now. She is extremely involved within the schools and I have been involved at the district level serving on two bond committees along with six years of service on the School Board. I have served four years as Vice President. I am also involved in the community and city with the Heritage Association and the Tax Increment Finance Board.
• Education
  • I am very serious about learning and preparing for the responsibilities of a School Board Trustee. I have completed over 40 specialized training sessions offered by the Texas Association of School Boards.
• Leadership
  • As a company Director in the commercial world, I have a lot of experience and formal education in leadership skills. As a School Board Trustee, this experience is very important as we are interacting with a group of senior professionals most of them with doctorates in education and experience ranging from a starting teacher to the Superintendent level.

Other Qualifications & Community Involvement

Besides serving on the Frisco School Board, I am also involved in the following activities:

• I served on the 1998 citizens bond committee and was the chairman of the 2000 citizens bond committee. Since joining the school board in 2002, I have served in an ex-officio role on the other bond committees.
• I have served on the board during a time when Frisco ISD grew from 10,000 to almost 30,000 students. During this time, we have opened (or are preparing to open) 14 elementary schools, 5 middle schools, 5 high schools, the Natatorium, the CTE Center, and completed the Pizza Hut Park Partnership
• I am chairman of the Budget and Technology subcommittees, and a member of Education Foundation, Communications, Facility Naming, Capital Projects, and Secondary Schools Transition Committees.
• I have made continuing education an emphasis while serving on the board, having completed 40+ training sessions.
• I currently serve on the TIF (Tax Increment Finance) Board. The TIF zone has been a tremendous blessing to both the school district and the City of Frisco.
• Beginning in 2008, I will be the Frisco ISD representative on the Frisco Economic Development Corporation Board.
• My main emphasis is and will always be my family. We are rather unique in that all of my children and even my wife have spent their entire public education careers in Frisco ISD. Our history certainly gives me a real life understanding of rezoning.
  • We opened Noel A. Smith Elementary
  • We opened J.W. and Ruth Christie Elementary
  • We opened Bessie Gunstream Elementary
  • We opened Lucille Rogers Ashley Elementary
  • We opened Cal and Walt Wester Middle School
  • We attended Sam and Ann Roach Middle School
  • We attended Centennial High School
  • We opened Liberty High School: At its temporary Plano location
  • We opened Liberty High School: At its permanent location
  • We will probably open Heritage High School
• I have been a resident of Frisco since 1992. My wife, Jill Roach, is a Frisco native and has a school named in honor of her parents.
• I have been a Director at Adventa Control Technologies for ten years, with complete financial and operational responsibility for three of the four business units.
• I have a BSCS degree from Texas State University, having been awarded the Outstanding Computer Science Student my senior year. Later I was elected Senior Member of the Technical Staff at Texas Instruments.

Various other community activities:

• Youth soccer, basketball, and softball coach
• Frisco Relay for Life, Top Individual Fund Raiser 2004
• WebMaster (and lifetime family member) of the Heritage Association of Frisco
• WebMaster of the Liberty High School Volleyball Booster Club
• WebMaster of the Liberty High School 2009 Senior Parents Committee
• Operator of the FriscoParents.net web site for the benefit of parent organizations
• Member of numerous PTA/PTO/Booster organizations. Jill received the Lifetime Membership Award from the PTA for her service.
• Active members of Frisco FCA Adult Chapter.
• Member of Grace Avenue United Methodist Church