Two district issues top in Johnson’s mind

With the worries of campaigning for his seat on the McKinney ISD Board of Trustees brushed aside, Wade Johnson (Place 6) can give all his attention to the issues currently facing the district, including the decision to be made this month of whether or not McClure Elementary will open in the coming school year and what measures are necessary to balance enrollment at McKinney North and McKinney Boyd high schools.

The board recently took measures to balance out the populations of North and Boyd, the former of which is far under capacity and the latter full, including putting open enrollment for North in place and moving certain career and technology courses there. Johnson said the board is trying to find creative ways to remedy that situation that will encourage students to choose to attend North, but that more drastic steps may be necessary.

“We’re hoping that solves the problem, but if not we may have to seriously look at and consider redrawing our boundaries, because we’ve got to get some relief for Boyd and we’ve got to better utilized North,” he said.

On the issue of McClure, Johnson wants to be sure extensions to Ridge Road in the works can be completed in time should the new school open this year. If the project isn’t done by the first day of school in August, he said he wouldn’t be in support of brining students to the campus.

“That’s the primary issue,” Johnson said. “Because I don’t believe we should have [Highway] 380 as our only access point to that campus, so I would not feel comfortable opening the campus if that was the case.”

Another issue for consideration regarding McClure is the impact the school will have on the district’s budget. Johnson said it’s going to be a tough budget year, and the district will have to look for ways to cut expenses. Opening a new school won’t do anything to help. Johnson said the board is weighing financial matters currently to see if opening McClure is even something MISD can afford.

“As it stands, even if we don’t open it we’re still going to have a tough time approving a budget that doesn’t come at a deficit,” he said. “So that just puts added strain on the district if we have to open a new school while we’re in a very difficult financial year.”

Johnson hasn’t yet decided how he will vote on McClure, as he wants to see the numbers first. But on the issue of Ridge, he feels confident the city will be able to complete the extension in time, making the financial situation the deciding factor left.

As for his take on new Superintendent J.D. Kennedy, Johnson very much approves of what he’s seen so far. He said that Dr. Kennedy’s background in curriculum and instruction will help him bring an engaging approach to instruction for district students.

“He’s been everything that we hoped he would be,” Johnson said. “He’s a visionary, he is an outstanding leader and he truly cares about the employees of this district and the students of this district, and he just has a lot of knowledge.”

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