Q & A with DSISD Board Candidate Jeff Aylstock

Why did you decide to run for the school board?

I’ve always been the type of person to jump headfirst into the hardest problem I could find and I see some tough decisions ahead for our school board.  We as a community are growing exponentially and soon will be ending one of the most usual school years to say the least.  The continuing need to analyze each performance metric and ensure that we both capture what has changed due to COVID and be able to adjust for the unknown will be paramount for us in the coming 5 to 10 years.  I have been greatly successful in focusing on problems like these and adapting solutions all the while keeping an eye on the consequences of implementing those solutions.  I feel we need a person like myself on the board that can easily digest the analytical components and be able to present the analysis in an understandable manner.

What qualifiers in your background do you believe make you the best candidate?

Currently, I am employed as a Global Technical Sales consultant for Pure Storage.  I have been in the IT industry for over 25 years.  Over my tenure, I have built a strong technical, project, and leadership background and am excited to implement what I have learned wherever I can be of service within DSISD.  I frequently communicate with fortune 50 Business leaders and am not afraid to challenge the status quo when I see that there is the potential for a better solution or outcome.  I feel that my experiences throughout my career can be applied to our decisions at the school board.  I am acutely able to focus on the details of a project and bring back the hard questions to ensure we have captured every possible scenario and the potential outcome.    

What are your priorities beginning in May if elected?

I want to prioritize a reevaluation of how we address the information that we present and the way we engage with the public.  Data that should be easily consumed is most often buried 3 to 4 layers deep in the website or at the worst, not even published for public understanding.  Something as simple as an indexing system or hierarchical tree could ensure that it is easy to follow the path of a decision. 

Do you have any students in the district? Please also tell us about your family.

Our family resides in Driftwood, TX, and includes my wife Lila Aylstock and our two sons, Shawn (10) and Blake (8).  Both boys currently attend Sycamore Springs Elementary school.  Shawn will soon attend Sycamore Springs Middle School in the fall with Blake transitioning to the new Cypress Springs Elementary school. 

How long have you lived in or been a part of the Dripping Springs community?

Although we have only recently moved here 2 years ago, we feel that this is our perfect home.  We came from a school district that was failing its students due to the district’s policies and mismanagement as well as the state's governmental overreach.  We are worried that those same policies could make their way here and I feel that it is my duty to ensure that what keeps Dripping Springs ISD successful doesn’t get derailed.  I will make it my mission to call out any erroneous or overreaching policies.   

What other local organizations are you involved in or volunteer at?

I have always been engaged with our sons mental, physical, and personal growth both as a Cub Scout Leader and as soccer/baseball coach and continue those efforts today as both the Local Cub Scout Pack 4 leader and as a U8 & U11 soccer coach.  Within DSISD and Sycamore Springs Elementary specifically, I am part of the Tiger Dad’s group to help out with any school needs and have continued to volunteer where needed throughout the previous school year.  As well, I worked diligently at the beginning of this school year to get as many of our children’s teachers up to speed on all things virtual learning to reduce the challenges that this school year presented.  We love the area and the school district we moved to and constantly strive to help improve and make this the best place for our kids to grow up. 

How do you feel about the way DSISD has handled the pandemic, i.e. protocols, restrictions, closed campuses, virtual meetings?

I want to ensure that as a potential board member, I am focusing both on the short-term and the long-term picture and I personally feel that COVID will be a short-term issue.  That being said, I do disagree with many of the policies enacted by the board this past year. I worked hard to understand why they were enacted but my issue stems from the lack of transparency around the source of their policy and the failures once the policies were adopted.  There seems to be very little transparency as to the board’s efforts, if any, to evaluate and update those former policies based on examples of successful school districts that have not needed to create the level of restrictions we have today.  The largest failure, I believe, is the group's inability to accurately convey “why?”  If a board member cannot explain why a policy was put in place, it can create a distrust in the community between both parents for and against the policy and with the board themselves.   

What are your thoughts on transparency within school boards and decision-making, and do you believe DSISD has been transparent enough? Why or why not?

Transparency means that parents and staff should have the access and information necessary to understand what and why decisions are being made at the district level.  If we create clear paths for that information, it should be easy for the public to understand what those decisions were and why.  This requires an efficient way to gather that information and publish it out to the general public.  Our website is currently challenged when indexing and tracking that information.  As well, our board meetings tend to discuss documents and handouts that have yet to make it to the public’s hands or were only recently released with very little time to consume.  We need structured policies that require all documents and presentations that will be discussed to be on an easy-to-consume medium such as a website with links allowing indexing and published at least a week before the general meeting.  I would also promote a way to sign up for some type of notification when those documents have been posted so they can be reviewed.  Board meeting agenda items should both have a title and brief description of the actions requested any documents being used to should be easy to follow during a board meeting.  I would also like to see greater access to conversations with board members in more informal events, such as town hall meetings where the board can openly discuss their decisions and feelings towards certain topics outside of a formal board meeting.