You can color James Hess impressed.

Thursday, August 19, 1999

You can color James Hess impressed. After his first meeting with the Austin Board of Education, the superintendent walked away with his hopes come true.

"It’s what I’d hoped," he said. "I can’t say it’s what I expected."

To be sure, that is not a backhanded compliment.

Hess said he’s worked with a number of school boards. So you can imagine he didn’t want to set his expectations too high.

He was pleasantly surprised.

"It’s a good, strong board," he said. "I was impressed with their attention to detail and their problem-solving ability."

He added that he liked how the board’s members "processed through questions" as opposed to taking everything under advisement.

The board’s vote to approve the language of a Nov. 2 levy referendum left Hess with a big task ahead. He’s charged with leading the charge to win voters’ approval for the $1.67 million levy override.

The levy override is based on "need, not greed," Hess said.

If the levy fails, it’ll result in program cuts, something Hess would hate to see happen.

"The quality of programs can be attributed to the resources in place behind each program," he said. "The quality of the education programs we offer for students is outstanding. We don’t want to take a step backward."