Two posts open in district

Voters in the Klein Independent School District will chose trustees for Positions 6 and 7 when they go to the polls Nov. 5.

Each of the incumbents will face challenges from residents with strong ties to Klein ISD.

Incumbent Paul Lanham, a business sales consultant who was elected in 2010, is challenged by Dustin Qualls, a traffic engineering consultant, for Position 6.

Incumbent Rick Mann. who is seeking his eighth term on the board, is being challenged by Vijay Patel, who works at Hewlett Packard, for Position 7.

Early voting in the Klein ISD board election, as well as other local elections will begin on Oct. 21 and continue through Nov. 1.

In order to vote, you must be registered to vote by Oct.7.

Position 6

Lanham, 49, won his first term in 2010 during a time when Klein ISD, along with other districts in Texas, faced tough challenges and the potential for staff reductions amid a state education budget that had been slashed. Lanham said he welcomed the challenge.

“We looked at it with clear, open eyes looking forward to the future, and I think we made some nominally good decisions,” Lanham said. “Looking back on it now, I think we made all the right moves.”

Now Klein ISD is looking good financially and was able to provide teachers with raises and recently voted to lower the tax rate by .01 per $100 valuation.At the same time, Klein ISD is looking to hire nearly 200 new personnel next year.

“We are still a fast growth district and we still need people,” Lanham said.

The anticipated growth in Klein ISD is being fed the construction of the Exxon Mobil campus in Spring, as well as the arrival of the Grand Parkway, both of which will open in 2015.

While Lanham and others on the board have recognized the growth potential of the district, so have others.

Qualls, 36, who works as a traffic engineering consultant. and has children in Klein ISD, has worked on a contract basis with the district for several years.

Qualls has seen the potential for growth in Klein.

“The one thing I find lacking on the board is someone with an engineering background … as far as schools go,” he said. “I’ve got the passion and the energy for it, to kind of bring some new ideas on issues like this to the district. I have the passion for it (the position) and I think I would bring some energy to it.”

Through his consulting business, Qualls said he’s made a lot of contacts within the district and has made it a habit to attend district meetings, and as a result, feels he has a perspective on district needs.

“What it comes down to is being aware of what is going on around you,” Qualls said. “I think I can be a lot more proactive, rather than reactive to provide this kind of insight.” Position 7

Seeking his eighth term, Mann, 67, who has lived in the district for 36 years, sees his service as a way of giving back to the district that educated his two children, both of which now have masters degrees.

“They were able to (achieve) this because of Klein ISD,” Mann said. “I said from day one that I wanted to pay back, and this is what I continue to love doing; to pay back Klein with whatever resources I have, to help the district get better and better every year.”

Mann said the district recognizes the effects that growth could have on Klein ISD in the near future, and has begun to look for new sites for high school, middle school and elementary school campuses.

Mann said there are still unfunded mandates that filter down from the state legislature — those changes that state requires local governments and school districts to implement, but won’t fund themselves.

One of these involves funding an extra district police officer to check address of students to ensure they lived in the district and not using a false address.

Vijay Patel, who works for Hewlett Packard, understands the value of a good education, too.

Patel, 51, who has lived in the district for 13 years, comes from a long line of educators and has also seen firsthand the successes of his own children as they went through Klein ISD.

“Education has been a key point in my life,” he said. ”I came here (in 1983) on a student visa for education. If it were not for education, I would not have the opportunity to come here (the United States). This is why I wanted to run for the Klein ISD board and give back to the community.”

Patel has twins, a son and a daughter, who graduated from Klein Oak High School in June and are attending the University of Texas in Austin.

Patel, who has traveled extensively because of his work, hopes to channel his passion for education into success as a trustee if he is elected and he believes a global perspective is needed to enable students to be more successful.

He believes this perspective helps parents understand that children are learning in the best environment possible.

“There are other great school districts out there, but we need to let these parents know that we can be better,” he said.