Report: Granbury ISD administrator took more flights with family than he did with students on district’s private plane

GRANBURY, Texas — A law firm’s investigation intro Granbury ISD’s use of its private plane revealed assistant superintendent Jimmy Dawson used the plane for more flights with his family than he did with students.

Superintendent Dr. Jeremy Glenn requested the report after WFAA’s investigation into the plane’s use and concerns from district parents and taxpayers.

For 90 minutes Monday night, Miles Bradshaw of KBS Law shared his findings in the report, and suggested Dawson’s actions warranted at least a written warning and training or a written reprimand and training. 

The board took no disciplinary action Monday.

“They did not violate any particular law or policy,” Bradshaw said. “I use the phrase gray area because that’s what it is.

Granbury bought a private plane in April 2021 to encourage students’ interest in aviation. One month ago, WFAA reported that assistant superintendent Jimmy Dawson used the district’s plane for a family trip, taking his wife (also a district administrator) to see their daughter at college in Abilene for her birthday.

“The school really need some very or more specific written guidelines or protocols for the use of the airplane, without question,” Bradshaw said.

The audit revealed Dawson has flown with students three times in 19 months, and flew with his family six different times — mostly around holidays or spring break — and never had written authorization to fly.

Dawson had 10 other flights listed as training. Bradshaw, the auditor, said there was no definition for what counted as a training flight or discovery flight. Instead, Bradshaw created his own definitions. For instance: One flight Dawson took by himself to Abilene around Thanksgiving last year is listed as training.

“The district was getting the benefit of him doing what they asked him to do, and his family was getting the benefit of a plane ride,” Bradshaw said.

A flight another pilot named Mark Kirk took to College Station on the day of a Texas A&M football game is listed as “campus tour/flight training”. It’s unclear how many students were allowed to use the district’s plane for campus tours.

The audit also found Kirk took his children — not Granbury ISD students — on a flight, but Bradshaw said the flight was permissible because it was getting possible prospective students interested in aviation.

Dawson apologized for bringing negative attention to the district in the Monday board meeting.

“It never was my intent o bring any negative attention to the aviation program,” he said. “I regret the position this has placed our wonderful school district in.”

A few community members spoke in defense of Dawson’s character, but others questioned the district owning a plane and its management of the program.

“Should he face criminal charges? I don’t know,” one speaker said of Dawson. “Should he still be involved in the program? Not in any way shape or form.”

“Instead of handling this, stories were changed,” another speaker said. “There was not a reprimand nor was there transparency.”

Bradshaw said Dawson didn’t violate any policies, even though he doesn’t teach students, because there weren’t specific policies to be violated. The audit includes a new flight policy requiring “travel authorization”. Bradshaw says in the report he has not seen the authorization form.

When WFAA questioned Dawson in September, he said he paid for fuel for the plane during flights, but the district had no record of those fuel purchases. The audit shows Dawson spent a total of $58 on fuel, and last made a purchase in November 2021.

The law firm’s audit uses interviews with Dawson and Kirk to justify the use of long flights, saying “cross-country flights” are necessary to stay current. In a statement, the FAA said a flight of any time or distance is sufficient for Dawson and Kirk to stay current on their licenses. Neither has the proper license to teach students to fly. One pilot was allowed to use the plane to teach his son how to fly and took 14 flights.

Bradshaw said he did not know yet how much the audit would cost the district since he had not finished tallying his hours. The board approved the agreement with KBS Law for the report, though. Board member Melanie Graft voted against the agreement.

“I don’t believe it was a fair and unbiased investigation,” she said.

“We wanted a transparent, fair evaluation of the situation,” board president Barbara Herrington said. “I’m very pleased with this report.”

An ethics expert told WFAA the family trip Dawson took on the plane could violate the state’s ethics policy. Bradshaw pointed out three possible policies Dawson violated including one that says “the educator shall not use institutional or professional privileges for personal or partisan advantage.” Bradshaw said, though, that Dawson’s advantage was only incidental.

Receipts showed the district invested $54,200 in the plane it purchased for $42,000. Superintendent Dr. Jeremy Glenn said in Monday’s meeting that the administrator overseeing the Career and Technical Education program will be doing a cost-benefit analysis of the program.

Granbury ISD is not alone in offering aviation classes. 

A TEA spokesperson said Fort Worth ISD, Hamilton ISD, Hudson ISD, Humble ISD, Irving ISD, Karnes City ISD, Kerrville ISD, Richardson ISD and Grand Prairie ISD all offer courses within the TEA’s Aviation Regional Program of Study  — but none of the districts WFAA received responses from said they actually owned any planes.

Bradshaw’s report suggested clear written guidelines around the program, a cost-benefit analysis and disciplinary action for Dawson.

“If one asks, ‘Should the school district have had tighter controls that if followed, would have prevented the perceived appearance of impropriety?’ it is reasonable to answer, ‘Yes’,” the report says.

District spokesperson Lissa Oliver said neither she nor superintendent Dr. Jeremy Glenn would be available to answer questions on the plane Monday evening.