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Texas Legislature

Apr 14
0

Confirmed to TxSSC Board

By | News

Kerri Brady’s second appointment to the Texas School Safety Center (TxSSC) Board was confirmed by the Texas Senate this week. She remains the first and sole architect on the 17-member board. The TxSSC Board reports to the Governor, the legislature, the State Board of Education and the Texas Education Agency regarding school safety and security. They also advise the Texas School Safety Center on its function, budget and strategic planning initiatives. 

Kerri was first appointed by Governor Greg Abbott to the Board in 2019, and re-appointed to her second term in 2020 pending Senate confirmation. She brings expertise in the areas of school architecture, safety and security, planning and research. 

At Huckabee, Kerri serves as Vice President of Educational Practice; leads our educational research efforts at the Baylor Research and Innovation Collaborative; led efforts to rewrite the school facility standards for the state of Texas (including school safety revisions); and has participated in several working groups focused on school safety and security. Her passion to create positive changes in education through her work motivates all that she does.

Jul 01
0

Investing in Public Education

By | News

Texas public education matters, and Huckabee continues to actively support and advocate for our partners in education as we collectively address critical needs. As a Board Member of the North Texas Commission, our CEO, Chris Huckabee, has joined numerous business and education leaders across the state to ask our elected officials to address public education recovery in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Huckabee firm is supportive of this initiative.

Nineteen major business and education associations, backed by hundreds of public education advocates, signed a letter on June 29 urging elected leaders to enable a statewide task force to assess the challenges posed by COVID-19 to public education in six key areas:

  1. Maintenance of funding
  2. Connectivity, access to technology and contingency planning
  3. Professional development
  4. Assessment and support for students
  5. Health and safety
  6. Acknowledgement of the economic cost of inaction.

Read the letter here.

Through the North Texas Commission, Chris was also asked to join Dr. Susan Bohn, Aledo ISD Superintendent, to co-chair the Education & Workforce Task Force. The group has been charged to develop a list of legislative priorities that require action in the 87th Texas Legislative Session. The success of the previous legislative session brought finance reform to public education, yet, it remains critical that these reforms remain part of a long-term strategy to invest in Texas school districts.

“Together, we made great progress for public education in 2019, but COVID-19 will certainly create budget challenges for the legislature,” said Chris. “We will need a solid and unified voice in Austin this January to keep the ground we have gained and prevent challenges that a lack of funding will create.”