David Godino has served almost two years on the Pampa Independent School District Board of Trustees after filling the unexpired term of Lee Porter.
Godino has served the last two years on the Board and added it has been quite the learning experience for him.
“I didn’t understand exactly all of the ins and outs and you really don’t until you’re doing it,” Godino said. “It’s been quite the learning curve. I enjoy new challenges and it’s been one for sure. Especially with Covid going on and trying to make the best decisions for the most amount of people and keeping everyone safe. But it’s been good.”
After two years of learning the ropes, Godino feels like he is more prepared heading into his second term.
“I had filled the spot because I saw the need for more representation in the community for someone who has kids who are little bit younger,” Godino said. “I stepped up because I had little boys who were going to spend their entire career in Pampa ISD. Now, there’s a lot of facets to it (serving on the school board) I’ve enjoyed to learn about and hope to continue to help out.”
The biggest thing Godino has learned about is how complicated school financing is.
“I went to a training the day after I was appointed and Todd Hubbart (who is now the Pampa ISD Chief Financial Officer) was at Region 16,” Godino said. “I went in thinking I was going to learn what school financing was all about, and he educated me in about five minutes that it’s about 45 more times complicated than you think it should be.”
Godino added that Pampa ISD is heading in the right direction when it comes to their budget and financing.
The COVID-19 pandemic really showcased how far schools have come in technology.
“Being a school that can move and change with the times has been important,” Godino said. “I think our teachers and administration have done a good job stepping up to the plate and making things happen when we didn’t know what was going to happen.
“I think we have a pretty solid system to provide virtually, and I think it’ll be interesting to watch where education goes in the next two to five years.”
He added navigating how the school districts handle platforms involving technology and traditional flu seasons will be a topic of discussion at the State level for the next several years.
“That’s the biggest challenge that came out of Covid: How we are going to navigate that in the future,” Godino said. “There’s a lot of things that showed how well we are prepared. Especially when it comes to our tracking, especially during flu seasons. The year before (2019), they had been tracking it down well to where the flu was at (in the district). I think we’re prepared in a lot of ways, but in others ways we’ve been shown how we need to improve.”
Godino has been impressed with the Career Technology Education programs in Pampa and said the District has been working with area businesses to make the programs better.
“We’ve been working with local industry to promote career/technology readiness,” Godino said. “When I was going to school, you ‘had to go to college’ to be successful. Luckily, I went to college and it worked out for me, but I had a lot of friends where that wasn’t their strength.
“As a school district, we really made some good bounds to have an offering to all 3,200-3,500 of our students. Out of 3,200-3,500, the likelihood of having 85 percent of them go to college is so low.
“So we need to give people opportunities to succeed outside of that, and Pampa has done a good job of making our systems more dynamic and promote that type of learning.”
Godino, a 2003 Canadian High School graduate, is married to his wife, Brooke, and the pair have three boys, ages five to 10. The pair moved to Pampa five years ago to open Physical Therapy Extra.
He finished his doctorate’s degree in Physical Therapy at Texas Tech in 2010 and spent some time in Odessa before moving to Pampa.
“I wanted to be in a smaller town,” Godino said. “One of the first questions when I moved here in 2017 was why I was moving to Pampa. It comes down to community for me. I grew up in a small town and would like to be engaged and dialed in to a small down. I really value what our town has to offer.”
He and his family attend Redeemer Pampa and Godino enjoys the servant-hood part of being on the school board.
“Servant-hood is part of leadership,” Godino said. “I’m never too far to be reached and really desire people to reach out to me if there is something concerning them. We’ve gone through some tough decisions the past two years concerning corporal punishment, mask use, etc.”
Godino is running unopposed but welcomes any questions at 806-486-1697 or they can e-mail questions to: david.godino@pampaisd.net or david.godino@phytexrehab.com.
Election Day
Saturday, May 1, 2021 – at M.K. Brown Auditorium
Hours will be : 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Early Voting:
Begins on April 19 and ends on April 27
It will be held at the Pampa ISD Administration Building, 1233 N. Hobart Street
Hours will be 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday
There will be two twelve hours day on Monday, April 26 and Tuesday, April 27
Hours for voting on those days will be 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
