John R. Reed, Challenger – Position 2
The Red Ledger: Did you ever attend a Lovejoy school?
John Reed: No. I’m originally from Houston and started/finished K-12 there. During my K-12 experience, I also attended schools in a small Wyoming town as well as in Sydney, Australia.
TRL: Do you have kids who attend a Lovejoy school? What grades are they in?
JR: I have four children, all of whom are currently in Lovejoy schools, and have been since they started kindergarten. They are in 2nd, 4th, and 6th grade.
TRL: How long have you lived in the area?
JR: We have lived in Lucas since 2011. We moved to Allen in 2006, moving from Austin after finishing my MBA at UT.
TRL: Do you have a website?
TRL: What’s your job?
JR: I am a strategy consultant, full-time husband and parent, and part-time coach, teacher, and adventure athlete.
TRL: Why did you decide to run?
JR: We moved to Lucas specifically for our children to be a part of Lovejoy ISD, having heard great things about the schools, teachers, and overall community. Thankfully those things have generally been positive to exceptional. Over time, however, I became more aware of various concerns related to school administration practices, in addition to having questions and concerns over academic matters, finances, administration oversight, and insufficient transparency with the Lovejoy community. While my children have had great teachers, I am concerned about the exodus of too many of our great teachers as they leave for other school districts. Additionally, after speaking with many parents of high schoolers, I recognize the need for students to have more balance and flexibility with their course selection — i.e. we need to allow students more choice between AP, traditional, dual-credit, work-for-credit, etc. Enrollment in AP at Lovejoy is outstanding, but selecting the right class for the student and their performance in that class is more important than one-size-fits-all.
TRL: What would you say are your main values?
JR: Specific to the school board position, I believe the primary role of the board of trustees is to provide oversight of school administration. While also ensuring accountability and transparency. The act of driving this oversight — which includes review and voting approval of administration priorities, plans, and performance — is of utmost importance. Generally speaking, honesty, integrity, hard work, problem-solving, and charitable service are values I hold most strongly. See my platform for more details.
TRL: Did Ted Moore’s resignation affect your plans to run or your agenda at all?
JR: It absolutely highlighted the need for new voices on the board that will fill the much-needed oversight role.
TRL: Why do you think you would be a good addition to the school board of trustees for the next three years?
JR: I believe very strongly that the board of trustees are there representing the entire Lovejoy ISD stakeholder community, including students, teachers, parents, and taxpayers. As a board member, I will be receptive to their interests and input, working with the board and administration to ensure we both plan for and help make our district even more successful. Additionally, in my professional life I’ve a proven record of providing the type of oversight I emphasize as well as executing/being accountable to those plans with similar oversight. Simply put, I will bring this expertise and focus to the board.