The Galveston County Daily News

As a member of the Galveston Independent School District’s board of trustees for the past three years, I have seen a definite positive momentum in all facets of operation — from academics to financial management — as evidenced by the following:

• The district’s highest academic ratings ever, including the first exemplary schools since 2001;

• Top state ratings in financial management, strong bond ratings and clean audits;

• $28 million grant monies, which have made possible programs (just to name a few) such as after-school tutoring and enrichment activities — all the way to special schools within a school, like T-STEM Academy at Ball High;

• Ball High placed in the top 5 percent of 27,000 U.S. high schools for advanced placement classes in Newsweek Magazine’s AP rankings;

• Austin Magnet School specialization in instruction for grades five to eight that promotes pursuit in careers of science, technology, engineering and mathematics;

• KIPP Coastal Village, a nationally acclaimed charter school that I worked to get to be a part of GISD, that puts learning first and offers our students yet another choice with a structured learning environment;

• Teacher pay increased to be competitive with other county districts;

• Tax rate lower than those of 11 of 13 districts in the region;

• Libraries have reached recognized status and some are now open to students on Saturdays;

• Expanded participation in fine arts, with a dedicated fine arts director who helped organize and emphasize the fine arts curriculum;

• An elementary teacher-student ratio of 1:20;

• Pre-K classes with full-time certified teachers and a full-day program;

• Nurses now provided in each school;

• Unitary status —

after 50 years of federal judicial scrutiny, the district has been declared desegregated;

• Post-Ike response — schools were reopened just three weeks after Hurricane Ike, retaining all teacher and staff jobs for the year despite a 20 percent decline in enrollment, while students were bused from temporary homes, including many on the mainland.

Galveston Independent School District must keep this positive momentum going for the best education possible for all our students.

Carol Greaney-Wurst, a member of the board of trustees for Galveston Independent School District is a candidate for re-election Tuesday.