Jeffrey Keech — who is running for Place 2 on the Wylie ISD Board of Trustees — says two issues facing the school board are the budget and some of the curriculum in schools.

He says the budget is growing at an “unsustainable rate,” having increased by 24% more than inflation and the student population, according to his own calculations using a nine-year window from 2012 to 2021. Keech said the district budget increased by 82% over the same period from $119 million to $215 million.

“At the August school board meeting, the current board voted to increase property taxes on the average Wylie homeowner by 11%,” Keech said. “Collin County, Collin College, and the City of Wylie (the other taxing entities for most taxpayers in the ISD) were all able to pass fiscally responsible budgets that kept these entities’ share of the property tax rates the same as last by setting the tax rate at the No-New-Revenue rate.”

Additionally, the candidate said libraries in the district have certain problematic categories including obscene and pornographic material, LGBTQ sections at both high school libraries and books explaining how to deal with white privilege.

“Nothing is being done by the current board to put a stop to these extremist ideologies slowly but surely advancing into the Wylie Schools,” Keech said. “These ideologies will harm our children and are against the wishes of the vast majority of the parents of children in the ISD.”

Another issue that the candidate did not expound upon in his responses is teacher retention.

In his professional experience working as a software developer, Keech says he has learned how to balance the needs of various stakeholders that would make up Wylie ISD.

“These tools will help me navigate the complexities of the tasks facing a school board as they balance the needs of the students, parents, teachers and taxpayers,” Keech said.

He said he is running for a position on the school board because of a duty to be involved with the governing of the country.