John E. McStravick

John is a native of Tomball and, after living in multiple cities in Texas and in Sale, Australia (oil field brat), he graduated from Tomball High School in 1987. John earned his Bachelors degree from Texas A&M in Ag. Engineering and worked nine plus years in south Texas as an engineer, manager and technical advisor for Halliburton, becoming licensed as a Professional Engineer in Texas. After earning his law degree in 1998 from St. Mary's School of Law and becoming licensed in Texas as an attorney and registered as a Patent Attorney (USPTO), John worked as a transactional attorney in private practice at PorterHedges, LLP in Houston. In 2002, John accepted an in-house role, serving as General Counsel, and later as President and CEO, of (what became) Iberdrola Group’s natural gas business affiliates in the U.S. (natural gas storage and trading operations). After twelve years with Iberdrola, John started his solo law practice and currently practices law at the Law Office of John E. McStravick. John also served for several years on the governing boards of the U.S. affiliates of Pembina Pipeline Corporation. After graduating from Texas A&M, John and Jennifer married in 1988 and moved to Dallas to start their careers. Shortly thereafter, they relocated to the Wharton/El Campo area, then to Pleasanton where John spent the majority of his Halliburton career. After a short time in San Antonio during law school, John and Jennifer settled their young family in Tomball while John began his legal career. Like their father and his four siblings, John's three children attended and graduated from Tomball ISD. Two of the three have now settled their young families, including John's six grandchildren, back in the Tomball area within Tomball ISD. Tomball is home and a wonderful place to raise children. ...

1) I know this community because I grew up in, and attended, Tomball ISD, as did my siblings and children. I understand the values our families expect: strong academics, safe schools, parental rights, transparency and fiscal responsibility. That is why my six grandchildren live in, and will attend, Tomball ISD. 2) Proven leadership - my established track record as a trustee shows those values in action through student protections, parental transparency, disciplined spending, responsible debt management and keeping the District focused on its core academic mission – student success. 3) Multifaceted Experience - I bring executive, legal and governance experience to manage growth and protect what makes Tomball ISD successful.

Tomball ISD’s three biggest challenges with be: (1) Taxpayer protection and fiscal responsibility. I will continue to manage fast growth through disciplined budgeting, efficient use of resources, responsible debt management and long-range strategic planning, while keeping the tax burden as low as responsibly possible. 2) Academic focus and curriculum integrity. I will continue to ensure focus is centered on reading, writing, math, science, civics and practical life skills, with age-appropriate materials for classroom instruction. 3) Parental rights and transparency. I will continue to ensure that parents have clear access to syllabi, instructional materials, library catalogs and classroom content, and the ability to guide their children's education.

As a partner with the district in their children's education. I fully support the rights as set out in the newly released TEA Parental Rights Handbook (developed per SB 12), which states the United States and Texas Constitutions, along with federal and state laws, gives parents important rights, including: • The right to guide moral and religious upbringing. • The right to make decisions about education....

Tomball ISD has a self-developed curriculum that has served our students (and the community) well. Tomball ISD is a Straight A district for the past seven consecutive years (per TEA). We have no need or desire to consider Common Core. There is no CRT in Tomball ISD. Tomball ISD has many programs to help develop the whole child, with a focus on character building, but does not subscribe to any Social Emotional Learning programs. Likewise, Tomball ISD has declined to implement International Baccalaureate, as we don't think it aligns with our community standards. I have supported, and voted to ensure, no Common Core, no CRT, no SEL and no IB.

First, removal of such "harmful materials" is required by law and is firmly in place in Tomball ISD. Over four years ago, I supported the Board's directive to the Administration to do a holistic ground up review of all library and classroom materials to ensure no "harmful materials" as defined in Texas Penal Code Sec. 43.24 were in Tomball ISD schools. I also supported the Board's further directive for the Administration to develop and implement a robust policy and process around the consideration of future materials in order to comply with the law, enforce community standards, and provide transparency and a voice to parents. As to the "educational exemption," that was appropriately removed from Sec. 43.24 last year by the legislature.

I believe the SBOE should continue to work within their statutory role: Setting curriculum standards, reviewing and officially approving instructional materials, and ensuring they align with state requirements. By doing so, districts know that such materials will, at a minimum, provide teachers with the resources needed to provide aligned instruction to their students. However, districts need the ability to supplement these SBOE-approved materials in order to allow their teachers to effectively teach students at the highest levels possible.

While Tomball ISD must remain focused on its core mission of reading, writing, math, science and civics, two areas where I have been passionate about enhancing content and exposure are: (1) Real world personal finance; and (2) Digital citizenship. These were captured in the district's Strategy Plan 2030. Tomball ISD has been integrating these concepts into certain curriculum as the plan is implemented. Interestingly, as to the personal finance areas, the SBOE just recently released its modification to the social studies requirements, including personal finance as a requirement in the fourth year of high school, either as a standalone course (replacing Economics) or an Economics/Personal Finance combined course (i.e., the standalone Economics course requirement has been removed). In addition to a solid foundation in reading, writing, math, science and civics, I think it is imperative that our students graduate understanding how to be good citizens, not only as Americans, but also in this digital world and understanding the basics of loans, leases, credit cards, budgeting and investing for the future.