Tower CEO Mark McClelland named to school board

The Olney school board named Mark McClelland temporarily fill to the Placew 3 seat vacated by school board president Jake Bailey last month until a special election can be held in May 2024.

Mr. McClelland, who served on the Olney Independent School District Board of Trustees in the 1990s, was set to be sworn in for an 11-month term at the Board’s June 26 meeting. Mr. Bailey and his family moved to Cisco to be near family this month.

“They called me when Jake resigned,” Mr. McClelland said. “I never planned on serving on the school board again but I love the school, I love the town and I’m pleased to serve the community.”

The Trustees face some challenging issues in the coming year. In a bid to lower property taxes, the State Legislature is considering cuts – what they are calling “compression” - to the taxes the school district collects for maintenance and operation. The Legislature is also considering a proposed “voucher” program supported by Gov. Greg Abbott that would allow parents to use taxpayer funds allocated to public schools to pay for private or home schooling. Finally, the Legislature also pledged to raise teachers’ salaries- an issue expected to be addressed in a special session later this year.

Mr. McClelland said he is “not overly concerned” about the tax compression proposal because “history has shown that Texas funds its schools.” The state is sitting on a $33-billion budget surplus this budget cycle, he noted.

“I am always for tax relief,” he said. “Exactly how that compression is going to take place … I would hope and expect that it comes out where schools are fully funded.”

The voucher plan – opposed by Rep. David Spiller and supported by Sen. Drew Springer – “is a complicated equation,” Mr. McClelland said.

“Generally I am pro-vouchers for the city and anti-voucher for the rural areas,” he said. “When you are trying to keep a rural school operating and functioning you need every student you can get. I think you risk losing your rural schools [under a voucher plan]. So, as long as a school is performing well, like ours, then I would not be in favor of vouchers. Mr. McClelland pointed out that Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt “nearly lost to a moderate Democratic Party opponent because he lost the rural vote” over school vouchers.

Mr. McClelland also supports raising wages for teachers statewide. “I’ve always thought teachers were underpaid,” he said. “That is the most important job in the world and if you’ve got the funds you’ve got to pay teachers. You must have wages to attract and support quality teachers.”

Mr. McClelland said he has no plans to run for the Board of Trustees after he serves this unexpired term.