Place 4: Jonathan Powers

Tell our readers a little about yourself.

I grew up in Grapevine before going to Baylor University for college. At Baylor, I studied bioinformatics and chemistry. After college, I went to law school at the University of Chicago. While there, I focused heavily on law and economics and took a number of classes at the Booth School of Business. 

After law school, I began working at the law firm of McKool Smith where I still work today. We specialize in litigating complex cases where our clients’ businesses are on the line. Our clients come to us when they can’t afford to lose. Many of my cases involve intellectual property, where my job is to understand complex technology and explain it to judges and juries. My work has taught me the importance of asking the right questions and listening to the answers. 

In my free time, I love to run and coach my son Holden’s soccer team. I run every day, and it’s been more than 1,200 days since I took a day off from running. Because when I commit to something, I am all in. And I’m committed to Coppell ISD and making this the best school district possible.

What inspired you to run for this office?

I was inspired to run by the need for effective advocates on our school board. Public education is under attack, with our state legislature finding more and more creative ways to push kids to public schools, charter schools, and home school. We must work within the constraints set by those legislatures, while continuing to advocate for our students and our school district.

What experiences prepared you for this role?

I am a trial lawyer, a native Texan, and a father to two young children, one-year-old Jules and four-year-old Holden. I have spent nearly a decade analyzing and litigating complex financial issues for my clients, resulting in winning verdicts and settlements worth over a billion dollars. While at the University of Chicago for law school, I also undertook a heavy course load from the University’s Booth School of Business. If elected, I will leverage my experience to drive accountability, efficiency and results for the district.

Ultimately, I’m trained as an advocate. It’s what I do every single day in my job: I use my voice and my words and my reasoning to fight for my clients. I am not afraid of hard conversations when we have deep issues to resolve for our 13,000 students and 900 teachers and staff. I’m prepared to defend CISD locally as well as in Austin. I believe I have unique skills that enable me to be the passionate champion that CISD needs.

What do you think are the biggest issues currently facing CISD and what are your plans to address these concerns?  

The three biggest issues for CISD are navigating state constraints to provide for our teachers, planning for flat or declining enrollment and fiscal transparency.

Navigating state constraints to provide for our teachers – so much of what we do in Coppell ISD starts with decisions made in Austin. So first and foremost, I will continue to advocate for Coppell ISD with our state legislators. Regardless of the decisions those legislators make, we must continue doing everything we can to compensate our teachers as highly as our budget allows. Given our financial constraints, we must also work to provide attractive benefits and non-monetary perks for our teachers. We can do that by providing leadership opportunities, professional development training and trying to help solve work-life balance challenges. Our culture is important too.

Flat or declining enrollment – due to rising home prices, the demographics of Coppell are shifting. Fewer families with young children are moving to the area, which the district projects will soon cause flat or declining enrollment numbers. As a result of these projected changes, the district’s considering various options, including opening enrollment in CISD to neighboring areas or potentially closing one of the district’s elementary schools. Between these options, if the projections of declining enrollment come to fruition, I would favor limited open enrollment to neighboring communities. One of my first actions as a trustee would be to request the creation of a visioning committee for our district’s elementary schools so that the entire Coppell ISD community can be involved in whatever decisions we must make as a result of potential changes in our enrollment numbers.

Fiscal transparency – in communications to the community, CISD frequently laments its “budget deficit” and even incorrectly tells the community things like, “we cannot continue to spend more than our revenue.” But the district has never spent more than it has received. Despite projecting a deficit in eight out of the past ten years, every year Coppell ISD has ultimately received more money than it spent. I intend to increase the district’s financial transparency so that our community is well-informed and can weigh in on the issues facing the district.

 How would you describe CISD to a stranger?  

It’s the best school district in Texas. We have a wonderfully diverse community, filled with talented students, teachers and staff. We have a large enough district to provide exceptional choice programs (which we must continue to prioritize), while being small enough that our students can develop meaningful, authentic relationships amongst themselves and with their teachers. There’s no better place to call home.

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