TPR interviewed all 12 NEISD school board candidates and attended forums for the candidates hosted by the North East ISD Council of PTAs. Visit the NEISD website to input your address and find your single member district. To read about all 12 candidates, return to the main voter guide. Scroll down to the bottom of this story for links to guides on the other four races.
Interviews have been condensed for brevity and relevance.
Single Member District 5 – Johnson High School cluster
Three candidates are vying to represent the Johnson High School cluster. Shannon Grona, a long-serving moderate trustee and the current board president, decided not to run for reelection this year, leaving the seat open.
Dick “Raz” Rasmussen
Age: 56
Occupation: corporate pilot; retired Air Force officer
Political affiliations: Parents United for Freedom
Reason for running: “I started getting involved with the school board back in 2020 and 2021 during COVID and a lot of the mask mandates. I went to several meetings and would speak there.
“I saw how the board was treating parents during the mask mandates. They were requiring people to wear masks. They had to have masks to come in. They brought in metal detectors for the parents because we were some kind of criminals. They had armed San Antonio policemen that would escort us up to the third floor. Then we would sit in front of a big screen TV or video monitor to watch the proceedings because they wouldn't let anyone sit in the [boardroom]. And you had to wear your mask the whole time even though we were social distancing 10 feet apart. They would threaten to arrest you for criminal trespass if you took the mask off.
“Then they would take you back down to the board with the armed San Antonio police guard and let you speak for three minutes, and they were very condescending. Most of them, not all of them, but most of them were very condescending. Didn't really care what you had to say. And so I decided that I did not want people representing me that acted like that. And I wanted people that were generally concerned for the community that wanted to have input from the parents.
Priorities if elected: “One, equipping the students for the future. We've got to make sure that our students are equipped to be good citizens of this country. Second, we have to make sure that our teachers are supported and make sure that we have excellent teachers. We need to recruit and train excellent teachers. And we also need to obviously listen to our parents, respect our parents. And we also need to be cognizant of the taxpayers’ money. Right now, we're operating in the $39 million deficit, with a $600 million budget. And that just can't go on. We've got to be fiscally responsible for our taxpayers.”
Would you have voted for NEISD’s new, more conservative sex ed curriculum?
“I do think it's important for the board to be able to review these curriculums and make sure that they are age appropriate, make sure they are content appropriate and making sure that it's something that we want our students to be seeing, because there are some things out there that are not appropriate for the children at different ages that should not be taught in schools.
“I believe that even as a taxpayer, we should be able to see what curriculum and different things are being taught to these students because about 70, 75% of the tax base here in NEISD comes from people that no longer have students in the schools.
“I'm okay with talking about some contraceptive things, but what I'm not for is showing children how to put a condom on a cucumber or something like that.”
Many of the books NEISD pulled from school libraries in 2022 had LGBTQ characters or themes. Do you think LGBTQ books should have greater scrutiny?
“You probably saw a lot of the media coverage recently about that one book, All Boys Aren't Blue. That book in particular is about incest and rape and sodomization. It's just completely, completely inappropriate for minor children to be having access to or reading. These are our public dollars and taxpayer dollars, and they shouldn't be funding those kinds of things.
“It's really not censorship. It's responsible parenting. You know, what parent does not have a filter on their internet at home and lets their children just watch any kind of filth on the screens at home?
“What I don't like is kind of the indoctrination in the schools. If the parents at home are teaching Johnny or Sally about their beliefs or whatever they want to talk about at home, that's fine. But to bring it into the taxpayer schools and just start pushing an agenda of homosexuality or [gender identity] — that's where I draw the line.”
Editor’s note: for more context on All Boys Aren’t Blue, read NPR’s interview with the author.
Are you in favor of school vouchers? Would you advocate against them if elected? (Question and answer from PTA forum)
“The issue of vouchers has nothing to do with trustees. Trustees are not creating vouchers or doing anything. I know there was a resolution [the board voted on] before. It's merely a resolution to try to tie people down and see where they stand on vouchers. It's the legislature and the governor who are going to pass that bill to determine if the tax dollars go somewhere else for children's education.
So, it's not really applicable, but I will answer your question. I would be for vouchers because it's your tax dollars. Your tax dollars are there to educate your child. If your school is not performing and bringing your child to the education level that you think they should have, they should have the opportunity to take it somewhere else.”
NEISD, like many Texas school districts, is facing a budget deficit this year due to rising costs, the end of federal COVID relief, and flat state funding. What parts of the budget would you prioritize as a trustee?
“I'm not a current trustee, so I don't know exactly what's been passed and what hasn't been passed, but I've been told that the $39 million that is the current budget deficit was to go for a teacher raise, and I'm okay with that. We need to value our teachers and respect our teachers, and we need excellent teachers that are the backbone of our education system. But at the same time, if we're going to give a teacher raise then we need to look at other areas of the budget where we could cut the budget in order to fund the raises for the teachers.
“I think that most taxpayers are not happy with the fact that they pay big property taxes and 60% of their property taxes go to NEISD, but yet we're acting like Congress and deficit spending, when it's not our money to do that.”
Editor’s note: The state sets a school district’s maximum tax rate for operating expenses, and the state legislature decides how much funding per student a district is allotted. Many districts passed deficit budgets last year in anticipation of a state funding increase that did not pass because it was tied to the creation of a voucher program.
Chris Evans
Age: 49
Occupation: construction equipment sales
Political affiliations: Texas Family Action PAC / San Antonio Family Association
Reason for running: “I have served in one capacity in other children since I was 15 years old. I started out as a freshman in high school writing Bible study lessons for a junior high group of boys. I continued that for several years and really have served either through church or through independent school districts since then.
“There's we have such a need for our kids. Our kids are literally the future of our country. And the school board is paramount in making sure that they are equipped and ready to face the challenges that they're going to have once they leave, whether they go into secondary education or directly into trade school or directly into the job field. They need the tools and the education to equip them for those.”
Priorities if elected: “A couple of the biggest ones are rebuilding trust. Trust across the district has been eroded. Whether it's the public and the school board, the school board and the executives, executives and the admin, teachers and admin, parents and the teachers — there's just so little trust anymore. And that's something that we have to regain.
“Teachers unfortunately don't trust that if there's an issue that arises in the classroom that they will be backed by their admin or the executives, and it's sad. Teachers are afraid to speak up. That shouldn't be.
“We also need to work on increased student and faculty safety. I believe that there needs to be a safety audit done at each school for physical safety, but we need to look at the emotional and mental safety for students as well.”
Would you have voted for NEISD’s new, more conservative sex ed curriculum?
“The point of a trustee is to take the voice of the people in their voting district. … I'm not seeking to get on the board so that I can push my politics and my agenda. And fortunately, that's what we see over and over. And I think that's a big reason why the public has lost a lot of faith and trust in our school boards — because they don't have a voice on our school board anymore.
“The majority of folks that I've talked to about this have been teachers. I've talked to a few folks. I haven't talked to quite as many. It's not up for vote right now. The folks I've talked to, though, have been in favor of our current sex ed curriculum. The previous one, as I understand it, went into some detail that might not have been the most appropriate for middle school students. And that's a that's a concern that I share as well.”
Many of the books NEISD pulled from school libraries in 2022 had LGBTQ characters or themes. Do you think LGBTQ books should have greater scrutiny?
“That's a very good, very, very tough question because again, we're getting into areas where people are very, very passionate about. The thing with those books being on the shelves — the children are not being forced to pick them up off the shelf and read them. They're not being read to classes.
“I am not for censorship at all. I am for age appropriate materials, obviously.”
Would you have voted to allow chaplains to serve as counselors in NEISD schools?
“I would have to do a little bit more research. I have done some because this question has come up before, and the program is being a bit misrepresented by folks that are against having anything religious inside of a school.
“If you look at the school systems that have chaplains currently in place, the suicide rates in those schools have dropped to almost zero. Violence against students and teachers have dropped dramatically.”
Editor’s note: Chris Evans said these statistics come from the National School Chaplain Association. The Texas law does not require chaplains to be certified.
Are you in favor of school vouchers? Would you advocate against them if elected? (Question and answer from PTA forum)
“I do not support vouchers, and I agree that it is not a school board decision. Would be great if it was. We could take directly the voice of our voters and act on that directly. And, of course, we cannot. And the legislator will decide on vouchers for us.
“We can educate our voters. For example, in states that have vouchers, 69 to 75% of students [and] families that use the vouchers were not enrolled in public school anyway. So it's not really — they're finding out it's not a program to help people afford private education. It's just isn't. And there have been no studies that have shown that vouchers actually help improve the academic success of the student.”
NEISD, like many Texas school districts, is facing a budget deficit this year due to rising costs, the end of federal COVID relief, and flat state funding. What parts of the budget would you prioritize as a trustee?
“First of all, there has to be a fiscal audit done. I don't know that anyone really knows where all the money's going. There is a huge shortfall. Teacher pay is something that should not be touched. Faculty pay — those are critical positions. I mean, once you do a fiscal audit, that's going to clearly pinpoint where money can be saved and cut. Fine arts and sports are very important.”
Melinda Cox
Age: 55
Occupation: PTA mom / NEISD volunteer; former Valero employee
Political affiliations: Bexar County Champions for Public Education PAC
Reason for running: “I've always been an advocate and a servant, and I enjoy public education.
“I'm one of those weird people that always watch the school board meetings. I always have it on. I'm either there in support of something and I had to make a comment, or I have it on in the background on the live stream through YouTube. I just realized that there wasn't much public education going on up there, I guess, in the fact that it was just a struggle to get things done. It was not the same environment as it once was when I first started paying attention to what went on in the district.
“I realized that there were some conflicts up there, and there may have been some agendas that weren't necessarily in the best interest of all the students. And quite frankly, I realized that I could contribute something to those conversations. I have a lot of leadership experience. I've moved in lots of different spaces in the district. I know how to collaborate. And I thought, 'well, maybe I could lend something to that trustee position and try to bring some sort of, sensibility back and more of a focus on teachers and students and getting some more money from the state.' ”
Priorities if elected: “To keep facilitating collaboration. That means all working together. And this is why I know I'm the right person for it. Because if you can get the city and the county and the state to come together and put in a flashing school zone light. … I can get people in the room, especially if it's for the right reason.
“I value diversity, and I'll sit on that board, and I will work for every single student. I have for years. And I don't see why I wouldn't continue that.
“I want to keep promoting teachers. I want to figure out ways somehow that we can continue to come up with initiatives to help teachers, encourage teachers, figure out ways to make them feel more appreciated and valued and treat them like the professionals they are.
“To be fiscally responsible, which I will, which is a huge thing because it's one of the first things we do once we get elected. … I will work [on the budget] in collaboration with the board and also with the experts that are there.
“I want to continue what I've been doing for the last 14 years, which is supporting my district, fighting for public education.”
Would you have voted for NEISD’s new, more conservative sex ed curriculum?
Cox was on the health advisory council before it was reorganized, and she said her committee’s efforts to encourage safer schools “kind of came to a screeching halt because there was so much attention and so many changes and so many meetings being needed for the sex ed curriculum.”
She said to her the most important thing was for students to have access to sex ed curriculum after a year without it, so she would have approved the new curriculum recommended by the new council.
“I am for more information is better information. … Understanding all the different options that you have, I think, is important. If I had to pick between two curriculums, I would pick the one that talked about safe sex for sure.”
Many of the books NEISD pulled from school libraries in 2022 had LGBTQ characters or themes. Do you think LGBTQ books should have greater scrutiny?
“I love librarians. I know that huge job that they have. But I do believe that appropriate age books should be at appropriate age and campus levels.
“Part of public education is having access to stories in other worlds and to a story where a kid looks like you. I think that's important because we don't all look the same. We don't all come from the same place. We're not all have the same families. And to be able to read a book that you can relate to, I think, can be life changing.”
Would you have voted to allow chaplains to serve as counselors in NEISD schools?
“I would not allow chaplains on campus as chaplains. As a PTA person, you want to be a volunteer and you pass the DPS [background check], come on in.
“I don't think that those two environments mix necessarily, because we have a diverse population. And I think there is kind of something in the Constitution about a separation of church and state. So that's my other concern. And also, we have state-regulated, required certifications for counselors.”
Are you in favor of school vouchers? Would you advocate against them if elected? (Question and answer from PTA forum)
“I'm against vouchers. If [the] school board were to another resolution against vouchers, I would certainly sign it. I have worked at the local level and the state level against vouchers. I believe that vouchers further harm an underfunded public education system.
“It affects rural communities, and it affects students with disabilities. And honestly, I believe that the vouchers will destroy public education. Like I mentioned, it's underfunded already. And so, you're just adding to that problem.
“I've spent a lot of time in my advocacy role with North East Council of PTAs at the State Capitol. I know who the Bexar County delegation is. I've worked with them before, for years.”
NEISD, like many Texas school districts, is facing a budget deficit this year due to rising costs, the end of federal COVID relief, and flat state funding. What parts of the budget would you prioritize as a trustee?
“Like 85% of our money goes to staffing, so that's kind of hard. And that's part of the reason we're in the deficit, because we gave people a cost of living raise. So, for things like that, that's not for me to say. That’s where parent interaction, parent engagement, that three minutes matter of the floor is really important, right? Or emails.
“But there has to be ways that we can make classroom sizes more efficient, we can [better] utilize teachers while not putting too much more burden on them. So it would be something that I'd have to look at step by step.”
- Single Member District 1 — Churchill High School cluster
- Single Member District 2 — Roosevelt High School cluster
- Single Member District 4 — MacArthur High School cluster
- Single Member District 6 — Reagan High School cluster
