Sherman Planning & Zoning Commissioner Paul Manley is seeking a seat on the Sherman Independent School Board’s Board of Trustees. Manley and Erin Clayton will compete next month for the Place 5 seat currently held by Sean Vanderveer.
The Herald Democrat recently reached out to all candidates in Sherman ISD’s spring elections and asked them a series of questions about their priorities, qualifications and issues facing the district in 2025.
Early voting will be held from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. April 22-25 and 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. April 28-29.
The polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Election Day on May 3.
Q: For anyone who may not know you in the community, who are you, and what motivated you to run for a place on the Sherman ISD School Board?
A: My family and I have been proud Sherman residents for ten years. Lindsey and I have two daughters in Sherman ISD. I grew up in St. Louis, Missouri and am an engineer by trade. Since moving to Sherman, I’ve been the Vice President of Engineering & IT at Trident Solutions, formerly Presco.
I serve on the Sherman Planning and Zoning Commission, the Children’s Advocacy Center Board, Sherman Main Street Board, and the Sherman Rotary Club. I’m involved with Sherman ISD through the Sherman Education Foundation, DAEP student mentoring, and the Fairview Elementary PTA. I was part of the 2023 School Bond PAC and the Facilities Design Committee.
I believe the heart of a strong community is the school district. As a parent and involved citizen, I recognize a need for improvement in our schools and I think this is the best place I could dedicate my effort and ability to make our community better.
Q: What unique skill sets or traits do you feel you would bring as a member of the school board?
Q: I was raised by a single mom who was a public high school science teacher for thirty years. She instilled in me an admiration for teachers and an appreciation for how much our public schools contribute to community and society.
I’m a problem solver and I focus on achieving results. It’s my nature to set goals with clear plans to achieve them. I’m an active listener and I excel at finding common ground between different perspectives. Knowing how to do this is essential for a seven-member board who must reach a majority consensus to act.
Sherman ISD is the second-largest employer in the city. I’ve been a leader in large corporations for twenty years and understand the importance of a healthy organizational culture.
Most importantly, I’m a parent. The mission to assure excellence in our public schools is personal for me.
Q: As a member of the school board, what priorities do you wish to pursue?
A: My sole priority is to improve student performance on standardized tests and therefore Sherman ISD school ratings. Regardless of how someone may feel about the STAAR test, it is the tool we have available to assess educational quality and the standard by which our district is compared to others. Sherman ISD’s performance in this area is below neighboring districts and trending in the wrong direction. New area residents are attracted away from Sherman to nearby cities due in part to low school ratings. We owe it to our children and our city to change this. I want to be part of the solution to this problem.
This not only includes improving the performance of struggling students but supporting our highest achievers as well. We cannot afford to push our best students out of the district because we did not provide the support they need to excel.
Q: The topic of state funding has been a recurring one for many districts in recent years. The state funding allocation has not been updated since 2019 and many districts have turned to deficit budgets as a way to make ends meet during the interim. How would you go about balancing SISD’s budget during the current funding uncertainty?
A: In 2024, Sherman ISD passed a deficit budget as a temporary measure. The board has made clear they will not accept a deficit budget this year. This means the district must immediately cut $2M in operating expenses. State rules and legislation threaten further cuts. In my opinion, these funding losses extend beyond minor scale reductions to balance the budget. I believe we must conduct a thorough evaluation of all roles and programs in the district for effectiveness in supporting student performance. Laser focus on priorities becomes critical when resources are scarce and student performance in reading and mathematics should be the top priority. Under no circumstances should we consider reductions in teaching staff or any measure that increases the student-teacher ratio. This means that all support roles and programming must undergo scrutiny to ensure they provide a return on investment.
Q: Following up on the topic of school budgets, one topic that has been discussed by many districts is increasing teacher compensation. Is this something that should remain a priority while the topic of state funding remains in question? How would you go about funding increases during the current economic climate for the district?
A: For Sherman ISD to be successful, we must hire and retain the best talent. Compensation is certainly a very important component of that. Sherman is very competitive in teacher salaries when compared to neighboring communities. In addition, Sherman has an inventive plan that awards additional pay to high performing teachers. I believe an evaluation of what roles participate in the incentive and the criteria by which the incentive is awarded must be conducted.
There are other important components that play into teacher retention such as organizational culture and how student discipline is handled. Teachers want to feel heard and encouraged to share new ideas. Teachers want to feel trusted to run their classroom. Teachers need to know that if they remove a student from the classroom for being a distraction or disrespectful, administration will support them to the largest extent possible. I’m not sure we have built that culture yet within Sherman ISD.
Q: What issues do you see facing Sherman ISD in 2025 and how do you plan to address them?
A: Student performance has been an issue for years. Sherman has language barriers and poverty challenges to overcome. While these factors have long been seen as a reason for declining performance, comparable districts in Texas with similar demographics show better performance. I will advocate sending representatives to learn from their success.
For a community as active as Sherman, I believe community engagement could improve. We should evaluate all community engagement opportunities such as PTA’s, booster clubs and local non-profits to leverage every available resource to support our students and teachers. It truly does take a village.
Board communication is an issue. The board should communicate openly and effectively with residents about priorities, changes, progress, and setbacks. Citizens often feel disconnected from government officials and that leads to mistrust. I want to remind residents that board members are volunteers and parents just like them and genuinely want our community to be a better place.
