Three people running for two at-large seats on the Argyle school board are focused on finances and the projected budget deficit the district faces for the next fiscal year.

Wendee Long, an Eagle Mountain-Saginaw school district middle school principal, first-time candidate Chad Elsey and former board member Randy McKellar are seeking seats on the board.

ARGYLE ISD RACES

Randy McKellar

Randy McKellar

Occupation: business applications manager with Zale Corp.

Age: 52

Education: bachelor’s degrees in computer science and math, Southern Methodist University, 1978

Career: Argyle school board member for nine years, as secretary and board president; consultant for almost 15 years.

 

Wendee Long

Wendee Long

Occupation: middle school principal in Eagle Mountain-Saginaw district

Age: 43

Education: bachelor’s degree in education, University of North Texas, 1989; master’s degree in education administration, East Texas State University, (now Texas A&M Commerce) 1996

Career: principal at Wayside Middle School in Eagle Mountain-Saginaw District, 2007-present; assistant principal, Northwest High School, 1999-2007; school administration internship, cheerleading instructor, Boswell High School, Fort Worth, 1998-99; business and computer information systems instructor, Diamond Hill Jarvis High School, Fort Worth, 1996-98; career connections instructor, B. McDaniel Middle School, Denison, 1995-96; business instructor, varsity boys basketball coach, Ector High School, Ector, 1994-95; business instructor, volleyball and cheerleading coach, Brazosport High School, Freeport, 1990-94.

 

Chad Elsey

Chad Elsey

Occupation: founding attorney of the law firm Elsey & Elsey

Age: 30

Education: bachelor’s in business administration, Baylor University, 2001; juris doctor, the University of Tulsa, 2004; passed Texas bar exam in 2005.

Career: attorney with Law Offices of R. Brad Lamberth 2004-05; opened Elsey and Elsey in 2005.

Incumbents Klip Weaver and Russell Ammons are not seeking re-election.

The election is May 9; early voting begins April 27.

Long, 43, who ran for the school board three years ago, said she wanted to run again because she had “a different perspective” to offer.

“I know that school is a business, but it’s a people business — with kids — and we need to know that the decisions we make will ultimately affect the kids,” she said.

She said the board could benefit from her background as a teacher and an administrator.

Argyle administrators have projected a $722,000 budget deficit for next year and have begun looking at options to alleviate it.

Among those options are raising taxes, cutting employees and programs and opening enrollment to students outside the school district.

Long said the board must think carefully about its options and cannot afford to make impulse decisions.

“Trying to make a decision proactively versus reactively makes better decisions in the long run,” she said.

The Denton Record-Chronicle routinely checks candidates’ backgrounds, including civil and criminal court records and property tax records.

Records from the Denton County Tax Assessor-Collector’s Office show that Long owes $158.70 in taxes on a natural gas lease from 2007 and 2008. Long said she was unaware of the overdue taxes and would rectify the issue as soon as possible.

Taxes on her Northlake home have been paid.

Elsey, a 30-year-old lawyer who in 2005 co-founded his own firm, Elsey & Elsey in Flower Mound, has lived in the Argyle district a little more than eight months.

He said he moved across the street to Argyle from Lantana because he felt his son, who started kindergarten this year, would have a better opportunity in Argyle schools.

He said he’s running because he wanted to become involved in the future development and potential growth of the district.

He said he’s “uniquely suited” to address the district’s financial issues because of his educational background and experiences in business and litigation.

Elsey said the experience of running his own business and making decisions when it comes to budgeting and making cuts also has prepared him.

He said he would like to see more careful budgeting of district funds.

That can only happen by being “privy to all the issues,” he said, which include funding that may come to the district from the federal stimulus package and the revenue the district could receive by improving its attendance.

“We’ve got to help parents be knowledgeable to the relationship between funding and attendance because there’s a strong relationship there,” Elsey said.

A routine check of Elsey’s background found that he filed a lawsuit in 2006 claiming that a former landlord broke the lease agreement on a Lewisville office space he was renting. The case is pending in the 362nd Judicial District Court.

Randy McKellar, 52, who served on the Argyle board for more than 12 years before losing his seat last year, said he is running again because he sees the difficulty facing the district with next year’s budget.

He said the board should create a sound financial plan that deals with the money spent per student and per grade level.

The district needs a strategic plan based on input from the community and teachers about how the district can handle future growth, he said.

“Without a good model, it’s almost impossible for the school district to make good financial decisions,” McKellar said.

He said the district should implement more simplified reporting that helps parents and residents understand the district’s finances.

“If it is known how much money is spent per student for each grade, you have a better understanding of where money is needed” and where it’s being overspent, he said.

BRITNEY TABOR can be reached at 940-566-6876. Her e-mail address is btabor@dentonrc.com .