Lampasas Independent School District Superintendent Randy Hoyer, left, and James Briggs, president of the LISD Board of Trustees, talk with Peyton Wolcott, a Horseshoe Bay resident who recently spoke to the Lampasas County Conservative Club about how to promote transparency and ethical dealings in government. PHOTO BY DAVID LOWE What started as a choir mom’s campaign to provide performance attire for student musicians has helped Peyton Wolcott become the leader of school accountability efforts that have achieved nationwide results.

The Horseshoe Bay activist recently spoke to the Lampasas County Conservative Club about ways its members can promote transparency and ethical financial dealings in school districts and other government bodies.

Before her open-records requests, before the establishment of her Web site, before several interviews with national media outlets, Mrs. Wolcott’s ethics campaign began with a simple question. As a volunteer at her daughter’s school, she wondered why some students in her school district didn’t have choir concert gowns, which Mrs. Wolcott said cost $25. At the same time, she noticed the school district spent nearly that much for valet parking for its superintendent at a school conference.

Mrs. Wolcott filed open-records requests to see how her school district used taxpayer funds. She and other volunteers later led a successful effort to oust incumbent school district trustees, resulting in the election of five new members.

In addition, as founder of the National Grassroots School Check Register Movement, Mrs. Wolcott has persuaded more than 800 school districts — including the Lampasas Independent School District — in 37 states to post their checks online so voters can watch how funds are spent.

Mrs. Wolcott praised Lampasas ISD Superintendent Randy Hoyer and other local school officials for welcoming parents’ and taxpayers’ questions about actions taken by the district. Along with Hoyer, LISD board president James Briggs, board member Linda Floerke and LISD business manager Shane Jones also attended the recent Conservative Club meeting.

Urging civility, Mrs. Wolcott said concerned taxpayers can resolve problems more effectively by asking polite, direct questions than by threatening or making endless open-records requests.

“When you ask nicely, you dissolve barriers,” she said.

The activist also encouraged residents to form small, singlepurpose groups to address specific concerns about government actions. Organizing groups not only keeps volunteers focused on one issue at a time, Mrs. Wolcott said, but also generates faster responses from elected officials than an isolated voter’s complaint would.

“I can’t get Senator [John] Cornyn to do anything,” she said. “I can’t get President Obama to do anything. But a bunch of us coming together can ask some good questions that get results.”

To conclude her presentation, Mrs. Wolcott offered several suggestions for local, state and national action, including:

• developing ethics pledges and encouraging school board candidates to sign them when running for office.

• contacting state senators and representatives to urge them not to change the State Board of Education from an elected to an appointed body.

Mrs. Wolcott also encouraged conservatives to demonstrate strong support for SBOE control — rather than control by the Texas Legislature — of the $22 billion Permanent School Fund. Under the SBOE’s watch, Mrs. Wolcott said, the fund has experienced strong returns on investments.

• questioning U.S. Senator John Cornyn of Texas and U.S. Rep. Mike Conaway — Lampasas County’s representative in District 11 — about government-funded trips they have taken and votes Mrs. Wolcott said the Republican officeholders have cast for “pork” projects.