Foust has been a lawyer for over a decade where he defended individuals and small businesses. He was the president of the Dads Club at Bransford Elementary School, served on the Bond Advisory Committee and coached his sons’ baseball and basketball teams.
Foust grew up in Pampa, Texas while his wife, Katie Foust, grew up in Grapevine-Colleyville ISD.
Community Impact asked Foust why he chose to run for the school board and what he plans to do in his new role. Responses have been edited for length, clarity and style.
Why did you decide to run to be on the GCISD Board of Trustees?
Because we have a phenomenal district, one that I'm exceptionally proud of. I'm proud to know that both of my boys will graduate from one of our high schools.
I have a tremendous amount of confidence in our district, but I also know that we are going to be navigating some really difficult decisions, facing not only GCISD, but public education in Texas.
I decided to run because I feel like my skill set in a professional background that I have will hopefully aid our district well in navigating what I anticipate to be some very consequential times.
You previously mentioned your main goal after being elected was helping GCISD financially and giving teachers and district staff pay raises. What solutions are you considering to help the district invest in teacher salaries?
I think the primary part of that is that the state of Texas has not given an increase to the basic allotment since 2019, despite the fact that we are facing historic levels of inflation.
We are in a position where, as a district, we need to be willing to look at all of the tools available to us to be able to compensate our educators. That includes our classroom teachers, bus drivers, nutrition workers, custodians and campus level administrators. We need to make sure that we are as creative and persistent as we can be to give our educators and GCISD an increase in compensation, which they deserve.
What are your top three goals you want to accomplish as a board member?
The first one is learning as much as I can. I know the way I can be of the greatest service to our district is by listening to community members, teachers, administrators and my fellow trustees to be able to learn as much as I reasonably can within a reasonably short time frame.
I want to get out into as many of our campuses as I can to be able to talk to our teachers, administrators, parents and students about what their experience with GCISD is like. Not only the great things, but also understand how we can improve. I think that any organization needs to focus on this idea that no organization is perfect and that we, as a community, need to identify what we can improve on and understand that it’s not necessarily a criticism of the hard work that's gone into our accomplishments.
How have you previously been involved in the district?
My wife and I moved here 15 years ago after I graduated from law school. My wife grew up in Colleyville. She graduated from Colleyville Heritage High School, so we always knew that we wanted to return to GCISD.
My relationship with the district became more connected as my kids started getting into school. Before that, I was involved in a number of different school board campaigns and knew the consequential decisions that were being made by board members.
When I look back on my life, one of the primary blessings I had was a phenomenal public education. If not for teachers who believed in me and coaches who took an interest in me, I wouldn't be able to go on to live in an area that is such a phenomenal place to live.
I've been involved in a number of different things for the district. I was on the bond advisory Committee, which was a precursor to the group that actually put the bond together. I was very involved through the Parent Teacher Association, including the legislative advocate position, both for our home campus and for the Council of PTAs, which is essentially the grouping of all of PTAs for our 17 traditional campuses.
Probably the thing I'm proudest of is, in the wake of [the COVID-19 pandemic,] I put our dad's club at our local campus back on the map. Because of a number of the consequences for public education from COVID, it had been decimated. I built that group back up to dozens of men who show up and are encouraging our students with high fives. At field day, for example, it was the dad's club that was out there at 6 a.m.putting everything up there, and they’re the ones who were there at 3 p.m. in the afternoon tearing everything down.
How will your past experience help you make decisions as a trustee?
I'm an attorney by training. I think that to investigate a scenario, to fully comprehend the facts and to dive into the interconnected dynamics of those components will hopefully allow me to have a ground view of what is happening in our classrooms. Then I can also zoom out and realize the interconnectedness of all the issues that we're facing as a district.
I'm fond of saying this, but I think it's the truth. We will be served well in GCISD by leaders who are able to keep one eye on the microscope and then one eye on the telescope. In other words, understanding in a very detailed manner what issues we're facing on a local level, but then also zooming out and realizing what strategic imperatives our district needs to be looking at and how we can position our district for success, not only this year, but years to follow.
As a GCISD resident, what makes you proud to serve this community?
I think that it's a proud history that we have within GCISD. It’s the idea that my fellow trustees and I are stewards of a proud tradition in that we will ultimately be measured by whether the district we left for future generations was stronger than the one that we inherited. This is a tall task whenever we inherit such a phenomenal district and one with a well-earned reputation for being one of the best in the state.
What final thoughts would you like to convey to the GCISD community?
I want them to know that I truly want to be of service to our teachers, our community, our stakeholders and our taxpayers. If there is anything that I can ever be of service on, I want them to contact me, because our board exists for the purpose of our district, not the other way around. This is a position that I want to listen in. I want to be of as much service to as many people as I can.
Editor's Note: Matt Foust was the president of the Dads Club at Bransford Elementary School.
