The North East Independent School District has five of its seven seats on the ballot in the municipal election on Saturday, May 4. Early voting runs through April 30.
The election has the potential to be particularly impactful due to the high number of seats on the ballot and because three of the races have no incumbent. The result of the election could tip the balance of control over San Antonio’s second largest school district after years of debate over culture war issues.
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, then scroll down or click the link below to learn about the candidates running in your race.
- 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 5 — Johnson High School cluster
- Single Member District 6 — Reagan High School cluster
Interviews have been condensed for brevity and relevance.
Single Member District 1 – Churchill High School cluster
Two candidates are vying to represent the Churchill High School cluster. Long-serving moderate board member Sandy Hughey decided not to run for reelection this year, leaving the seat open.
Michael Gurwitz
Age: 76
Occupation: former tax lawyer; retired Alamo Colleges math instructor
Political affiliations: Parents United for Freedom PAC
Reason for running: “I've been around a long time, and I haven't seen the country this divided. And I’m just very concerned how we come back together.
“One of the problems is the warring camps immediately assume the worst about the other side. The outliers and the other side become what people think the other side represents. So, we need to have a vehicle where we're interacting. And so, the school board should be that place.
“Before there were any, let's just say, conservatives on the board. Before 2020. I’ve been told that the board had 750 consecutive votes that were unanimous. That doesn't sound like any group of people that I've ever known.
“If you go to the Texas Education Code section 4.01, it expressly says that parents are necessary a component of the child receiving education. And it further goes on to say that objective number one of public education in Texas is that the parents are to be full partners with the educators in the education of their kids. So, if you have a group of parents who come along and say, 'We want to be more involved,' from their point of view, are they being ideological? Or are they in compliance with the intent of the Texas Education Code?”
Priorities if elected: "I think parents and students deserve a reasonably accurate assessment of where the children stand. And I'm very suspicious of the grades. The grade point averages are astounding. ... State testing, which is independent of the grades given by the district to its own students, paint a different picture.”
Gurwitz said in the early 2000s, before he started teaching at the Alamo Colleges, he taught high school math in San Antonio for three years: one year at a charter school, one year at a private school, and one year at Northside ISD’s John Jay High School.
“[John Jay] was my first exposure to practices that are designed to create good looking results with no substance. I was given a [passing rate] quota and I was told if I met my quota, we were all good.”
Would you have voted for NEISD’s new, more conservative sex ed curriculum?
Gurwitz said he would vote in favor of teaching sex ed in school if parents opt into it, as they do at NEISD (and as required by state law).
“As far as I'm concerned, parents are in control of values. And so, we should accommodate that wherever we can.”
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 haven't studied the books that were involved. And as I said, that's not an issue that I'm up to speed on. And then there's the issue of what grades were involved in that. What grades were they concerned about children not having access to those books? I don't know that.”
“I lived in San Francisco for 30 years. I have many friends who belong to that community, so I don't have any biases. I think we're all made in God's image. But I think there's a certain innocence for children that is valuable.”
What about Black history?
“No one's saying, 'don't talk about the evils of slavery,' but don't adopt what the "1619 Project" says as gospel. We want a more honest assessment, good and bad, about what happened.”
Would you have voted to allow chaplains to serve as counselors in NEISD schools?
“There are apparently reports that schools have benefited substantially, particularly teachers, as I understand it, when they've introduced chaplains. I'm sure there's a contra argument. I have not heard the contra argument. There's also an argument that the legislation that the state had drafted was poorly drafted, which causes its own set of issues.
“To take a controversial issue and then have poorly drafted language is a prescription for disaster. So, I don't have enough information. I will say one thing: From what I know about chaplains, these are people who've gone through a certain training, and it's my understanding that they don't pray, or they're not supposed to be proselytizing their particular faith when they're interacting with whomever.
I'm Jewish, and I personally would not have any problem with someone who had that training speaking to my child if my child felt the need to outreach.”
Are you in favor of school vouchers? Would you advocate against them if elected? (Question and answer from PTA forum)
“Vouchers would introduce additional competition for the district. There's also already competition from charter schools, and the charter schools have been doing very well within NEISD.”
“I am concerned that we have all of these options within NEISD, these magnet programs, special programs, and yet parents seem to be taking their children out of the district. So, my concern is we're not doing well with the competition that already exists, and we should be focused on making ourselves as competitive as possible.
“I'm sort of honored that the thought would be that I could decide for the State of Texas whether we'd have a voucher system.”
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?
“This would be an area that I have not made a deep dive. But look, you have revenues, and you have expenses. And if there's a mismatch, you need to prioritize things. If something is mandatory, then it's mandatory. And then the issue is can we comply with our obligation more cheaply. And I think in that regard you need outside help.
“The first thing I would want to look at is, what's the size of our workforce now compared to what it was when we were much larger? Because you have a tendency to not adjust to the changes. But I couldn't tell you right now that we are overstaffed.”
Lisa Thompson
Age: 43
Occupation: substitute teacher / PTA mom; former NEISD teacher
Political affiliations: Bexar County Champions for Public Education PAC
Reason for running: “I'm proud of our district, and I really love public education. I believe in it. It's kind of the great equalizer.”
“I've had to resign from it, but I was part of the North East Council of PTAs, and that brought me into kind of the world of what is happening on our school board. And so recently that has been a reason to run, because I see some — I don't want to say chaos — but I just see behavior that is not getting things done.
“I think the division, in terms of getting business done, is a problem when we're stuck at three and three, and things don't get passed. And then our children are the ones paying for that. I really don't like that. And then, as for the direction, I worry about the direction. This is an opportunity for it to shift one way or the other.”
Priorities if elected: “My priority is taking care of our children and taking care of our teachers and families. I want everybody to feel connected to their schools and engage with their schools.
“I hear from the other side [that parents don’t have enough access to the district]. The doors are open. We want and need parents to be involved in their child's education. So, priorities to me are community engagement and having stellar teachers who are teaching our kids and getting a wonderful education.
“I've also heard this idea about a lack of transparency. And as a parent myself, everything I need to know about my daughter's education is accessible to me. I can open up her Skyward account, and I can see what she had for lunch, what books she checked out, her graduation plan, her attendance, her volunteer hours. If I wanted to know about her curriculum, I can go online. And I feel personally that her teachers are accessible. I can email them, and within 24 hours I hear a response. And the same at the administrative level. If I had a concern, I would feel absolutely comfortable talking to the principal.”
Do you think NEISD’s discipline policies are working?
“As a teacher from in the classroom, what I can say is that they're hearing from this other side this no tolerance policy. If you have ever been in a classroom, that would be impossible.
“As a teacher, you can't get through five minutes of a lesson without somebody chattering or somebody messing with something in their desk. And so, if we're considering all those things distracted behavior that are discipline issues, that would mean I would need to stop my lesson right there.
“We wish we could say that COVID didn't change anything, but it did. It absolutely did. It changed student behavior. And we are all learning new ways to work with that.
“I just don't see a zero-tolerance policy working. Teachers are excellent at managing behaviors. That's a huge part of what we do. And if there are behaviors that are beyond things that the teacher can address, there's great administration to back up those teachers.
“As a parent, you know, you might see someone who got in trouble, and then they were gone for a couple of days, and now they're back at school. But it is our duty to educate all children. And so, when they are not in the chair at school, they are not learning.”
Thompson said there are occasional fights or an occasional weapon found at an NEISD school, but it’s not something that happens a lot.
“Every once in a while, is there somebody fighting? Yes, but our administrators take care of it.”
Would you have voted for NEISD’s new, more conservative sex ed curriculum?
“I would have voted for the one that says, 'We're going to teach abstinence, but also here's how to stay safe.' I think kids need to know medically accurate information.
“If you are relevant in a high school, this is happening, and it seems rather wrong to not teach our children these things.
“It has always been opt in. I can remember [when I was] teaching [elementary full time], sending home the maturation forms and collecting everybody's back and making sure that this is what their parents agreed to.”
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?
“Every book that comes on to a library and shelf is really carefully selected. It was put there for an educational purpose.
“NEISD has a process in place if someone wants to challenge a book. There is a way, a proper way, to do that. And if a parent doesn't want their child checking out a book, they let their librarian know, and librarians take care of that.
“I think that we learn from books, and we connect in our lives through books, and we can also just expand our knowledge about others in our world through books. To me, if a book is developmentally appropriate in terms of like reading level it's okay for the shelves. I mean, I'm not going to put a kindergarten picture book on a high school bookshelf that's not developmentally appropriate, and vice versa, I wouldn't put a high school level book on an elementary school shelf, but we learn from books. That's how we learn about our world.”
Would you have voted to allow chaplains to serve as counselors in NEISD schools?
“I would not. I appreciate chaplains and their work that they do in their capacity, but schools are not the place for chaplains. We have so many different religions. Even within religions there are different ways they do things. So, no, I would not have agreed to that.”
Are you in favor of school vouchers? Would you advocate against them if elected? (Question and answer from PTA forum)
“I am firmly against vouchers. I don't think that a world coexists where you can have vouchers and say that you support public education at the same time. The voucher system would allow parents access to $8,000 to $10,000 of taxpayer money for whatever program they choose, and that program perhaps has no state oversight. Whereas, our ISDs have regulations and rules that we follow, and that is what makes us a level playing field.
“If even 10% of our NEISD families chose to use vouchers, we have a total enrollment of about 60,000 people. That's $60 million leaving our district. And so, if you think budget things are trouble now, that would exacerbate this.
“And statistics show that a majority of the families who use vouchers were never in public schools anyway. They were attending private schools.
“My number one job is to support public education. It's a wonderful system that we have in place, and I want to continue that. … If there is a trustee up there who is not supporting public education, they don't deserve your vote.”
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 think that we have to look at, are we using our staffing resources efficiently? I mean, when you have a campus that only has maybe 300 kids, and they have to be staffed just like a campus with 800 kids, I can see that there is some tightening up that could be done there.
“What I love is that NEISD has experts, financial experts who know all of the things to look for to help get us in a better place. And just like I trust teachers to professionally teach, and I trust my curriculum people to thoroughly review curriculum. I trust our financial advisors to come up with a plan.”
Single Member District 2 – Roosevelt High School cluster
Three candidates are vying to represent the Roosevelt High School cluster. The seat was left open after the death of moderate trustee Terri Williams in August 2023. The board voted to place the unexpired term on the ballot after they were unable to reach a consensus on an appointment.
Rhonda Rowland
Age: 70
Occupation: retired principal / district administrator
Political affiliations: Texas Family Action PAC / San Antonio Family Association
Reason for running: “I feel that my experience could lend something to the board. That was the reason for running the first time. And when I was at the polls, I met Terri Williams, and we became fast friends. And she was such an inspiration to me. And we remained in contact after she won the election. And we continued to be friends. And then, of course, Terri died, and I just felt like that I could replace her legacy and her integrity and continue the work that she had done.”
Editor’s note: Rowland came in third place in a three-way race for District 2 in 2022.
Priorities if elected: “First of all, it would be to listen and to learn. There's been some disgruntlement on the board. It's kind of been three against three because we have that vacancy.
“I want to recruit and retain excellent teachers in. Our teachers have been somewhat disheartened, and we want to keep those teachers.
“I think we need to involve parents in a very positive way in our district and let them have a voice in what we do. I think we need to be more transparent in what we do on the board. I know there's a budget deficit. We gave teachers a big raise this year, which I'm so proud of. But we are going to have to think outside the box in doing some things in our budget.”
“And I think we need to have safe schools. And then I think we need to have well-disciplined schools.”
You were endorsed by the San Antonio Family Association. What does that endorsement mean to you?
“Well, they're back to the basics reading, writing and arithmetic. They want parent involvement. They want, like I said, the basics. They want more integrity in the curriculum."
They tend to be pretty conservative.
“Very, very conservative, yes. So, I believe in the family unit, and they believe in a conservative curriculum.”
Rowland said that like SAFA she is against same-sex marriage and opposes abortion.
“My birth mother was a teenaged, unwed mother, and she so bravely gave me up for adoption, and I'm so thankful that she did.”
Would you have voted for NEISD’s new, more conservative, sex ed curriculum?
“Well, I think that the SHAC committee has done an excellent job, and I would vote for the new curriculum because I think that our young people are so inundated with so much sexual information already that, we don't need to explain how to do things in our schools. So, I think that abstinence is a quality that our young people need to be familiar with.”
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 think that books open our minds and open our hearts and take us places that our imaginations need to go.
“But I think that there are subjects that need to be talked about at home. Again, our young people are inundated with so much of this information online and in movies, and I think they see it and they hear it anyway that we don't have to provide it in our schools.
“The thing about different races and different cultures and history: I think there's a place for that in our libraries. I think we should teach our children, that there was once a time when we felt differently, and we should learn from those mistakes.
When you say we don't need to provide it in our schools, you mean you don't think that books that talk about gender identity or sexual orientation should be in the public school libraries?
“No, I don't think they should be.”
Would you have voted to allow chaplains to serve as counselors in NEISD schools?
“We have chaplains in our military, and we have chaplains in the prison system. And I think if chaplains are vetted properly, and they do not propose any kind of denominational or religious leanings and only gave counsel for students who were needing someone to talk to, with parent permission that would be permissible.”
Are you in favor of school vouchers? Would you advocate against them if elected? (Question and answer from PTA forum)
“I have changed my opinion on vouchers because I have conferenced with teachers locally, and they educated me because I'm open minded to be educated.
“I'm pro public ed, and I've been an educator for 33 plus years, and I believe that the public schools offer the greatest source of learning available. No other entity, private or charter, can give students what public education has to offer. America is built on the belief that education should be free and accessible to all, including children with special needs. Dollars should be spent on public schools in the neighborhood where taxpayers live. They should not go to private schools.
“I have written to the governor and asked him to please rethink his opinion on vouchers. I had talked to Donna Campbell, and I would be most willing to advocate in Austin for this.”
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 would never want to cut areas where it directly affects students. I think that there might be some fat to trim maybe in central office areas, I'm not sure.”
Tracie Shelton
Age: 54
Occupation: manager at a cloud computing company; small business owner
Political affiliations: Bexar County Champions for Public Education PAC
Reason for running: “I run now because I'm needed now. The issues that we will face as a community, as a school district and a larger community, are significant. And it's incumbent upon us, I think, when you have the background, the skills, and you can step up, that you do step up.
“I originally, put my name in the hat because I was asked to [after the death of the elected trustee, Terri Williams]. ... But really, as I dug into what it was and what the issues of the day were, and the attacks on public education, I thought, ‘Yeah. I think it's time. I need to sign up and run as hard and fast as I can to help save public education at a minimum here at NEISD.' ”
Priorities if elected: “For me it's about community and mentoring. For work, we really rely on volunteerism and mentors to help our early career talent and our transitioning talent move to the next level. And so, I would love to see us develop some mentoring programs and programing that helps our students — from the wee ones all the way up to our high school.
“In my cluster that I represent, we have the highest truancy rate in Bexar County, not just the district, but in Bexar County. So, we're not testing well? Well, if you're not in school, you won't have the material so that you can test. So how do we again, by building a community and network, by mentoring our students, how do we get them back in school? What does that look like?"
Is the board majority part of what’s at stake for you?
“For me, this is 100% about: How do we build a future for these children?
“As I listened to some of the rhetoric and some of the blaming that's happening [on the board and in the campaign] it, as I said earlier, it breaks my heart. It really does, because it suggests to me that those people aren't committed to the students. They're committed to maybe the fight, or maybe winning, or something else, but they're not committed to the students.
“And our students, our children, deserve people that will sit and earnestly consider them — all of them — as they make decisions. The ones that look like them and the ones that don't.”
Would you have voted for NEISD’s new, more conservative sex ed curriculum?
“[The Student Health Advisory Council], as I recall, gave the recommendation to the board of which curriculum to choose. The SHAC is made up of the community. And so, one of the things that's really important to me, and I want people to know, if they choose me to sit in the seat, the voice is theirs. It's not Tracy's. It belongs to D2. So, if what the community came back and said is this is the curriculum that represents our values as a community, then that's what I would vote for.”
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'm a reader, and the idea that we would take any books off the library shelf at all crushes me a little bit. I think children should have the opportunity to read books that are appropriate for them based on what their family thinks is appropriate and their reading level.
“So, the idea of taking books out of the library permanently or even temporarily — I don't I don't agree with that all.
“Why would [books with LGBTQ+ characters or topics] have more scrutiny than any other book? I don't like horror at all, but Stephen King sits on the shelf, right?
“The other thing I would ask, as people start to look at books and try to remove them, is 'have you read it? Have you read the book? And is it really offensive, or is it just offensive to you?' ”
Would you have voted to allow chaplains to serve as counselors in NEISD schools?
“No. And I want to say, I’m a Christian and I love my pastor. There's a separation of church and state. A separation of church and school. We have other people that can do the things that was proposed for those chaplains to do."
Are you in favor of school vouchers? Would you advocate against them if elected? (Question and answer from PTA forum)
“I oppose vouchers. And as I tried to formulate how to you articulate it, I came across a really great quote from [Huriya Jabbar, an associate professor in the Educational Policy and Planning program] at UT Austin. And she said, 'What's getting lost in the debate is the idea of education as a public good and not a private good. Vouchers really shift the concept of education to a private good that benefits the individual student or family. But education is a public good, meaning that it benefits not just individuals, but society as a whole.'
“The education of our children supports all of us in the future. And our Texas Constitution sets out this idea that we need to educate our society for the good of the public.
“And while it will be a legislative issue, what's incumbent upon us, to make sure that we can maintain funds in the public, is that we have the conversation, and we start with the document that governs our state, and that's our Constitution.
“We said we're going to fund schools through revenue from the state. And how do we do that if we're doing some other things?”
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?
“We're going to have to have a conversation about everything that's required, everything that we do, because we know it's the right thing to do, and then things we do because we like doing them. Where can we get more revenue if we can't get it from the state? What kind of public / private partnerships can we enter into? Because I would argue that most of the things that the district is doing, we need to be doing.
“The administration will come with recommendations to the board, but how do we help them? How do we leverage the resources that we have, the background that we have?”
Jacqueline Klein
Age: 43
Occupation: political consultant
Political affiliations: Moms for Liberty Bexar County; Parents United for Freedom PAC in 2022
Reason for running: “When the pandemic hit and our schools came into our living rooms, it was a real wakeup call to kind of what was being taught, what was going on. When there were debates about going back and forth between going back to school, masks or no masks, vaccines, things like that, parents really woke up to the fact that maybe the school districts were not serving them well and were not really taking their opinions under consideration.
“And then, there was something that has been discussed, of course. My kids are in charter. A lot has been made of that. It is because of an incident that happened on a North East campus. In trying to advocate and protect my child [over] a safety issue, I realized exactly how the deck was stacked against parents and the fact that they weren't safe.
“I know that what happened to me is happening to other parents, and they don't have a voice, and I want to bring their interests and their voice to the board as a trustee."
Given that experience, are you wanting to change administration? Do you want to change leadership?
“I take no position on whether or not I would fire or hire anybody. That's not my position to do from a campaign perspective, and I would not pledge to do anything like that. However, I do think we need to take a serious look at the decisions that are being made. Who is making them?
“I do want to be a change agent, but I have to be very clear that I am not trying to bring my own personal agenda to the board. The way that I feel that change needs to be enacted is being a voice for the parents where they haven't had one.
“It just happens to be that what I hear when I'm talking to parents, or when I'm talking to teachers, aligns with the things that I believe.”
Priorities if elected: “I think that there has been a major cry for change. The parents that I talk to are not happy with the direction that the district is going, whether that's in terms of safety, spending, curriculum, things like that.
“In the last three years, we have lost 5,500 English-speaking students. And I say that because there is a difference in the student population that we're seeing in North East today.”
“We have parents that are leaving for charter options, that are leaving for private schools, that are opting to get their kids out completely in homeschool. And they're telling us that they are not happy with what's going on in the district, whether that is with the way their children are being handled, cared for, or whether that's what their children are being taught, they're going somewhere else. And these other options are doing something that we're not doing. And that is valuing parents.”
Editor’s note: Most school districts in San Antonio’s established neighborhoods have lost enrollment in recent years.
In a post on her campaign Facebook page, Klein said the rise in immigrant students enrolled at NEISD “hinders YOUR child’s success” because it costs the district resources. She also said immigrant children made schools less safe because they are members of “warring gangs.”
Klein also told TPR she wants to implement a marshal program to arm educators and ensure discipline policies are enforced more strictly.
“When you get in trouble for an infraction, you don't get off-campus suspension like we did in the olden days when I was growing up. They want money for those kids. And so, they keep them in ISS. And those ISS classrooms are out of control.”
Historically, Black students and students with disabilities are disproportionately impacted by expulsion and suspension. But Klein said discipline should be “colorblind.”
“You may have a 10% student population that is being disciplined 90% of the time. Well, if they're causing 90% of the discipline issues, that's what you get.”
Would you have voted for NEISD’s new, more conservative, sex ed curriculum?
“I think the new curriculum is a step in the right direction.
“The curriculum that we had before was 'Draw the line. Respect the line.' And so that to me was kind of a more relativistic approach to sexual education curriculum. You know, what felt like an appropriate line on a Friday night might not, in hindsight, feel like something that you were comfortable with or proud of on Sunday morning.
“There is a way that we want to raise our kids, and there's a way that the world is raising our kids. You've got TikTok and Instagram and all of these things. If you don't educate your kids, somebody is going to educate them for you. And so you want to make sure that what you're telling them is responsible. And I think that we need to protect that innocence.”
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?
“They did do that internal review. They did remove those books. I think it's a step in the good direction.
“I don't think that maybe it is so much an upset about the fact that it's a book about a trans character. Rather, the content. Maybe what the trans character in that book is doing and what those kids are learning.
“It's not necessarily discussion about gay characters. It’s about some of the normalization of things in the books and the way that it's presented that I think we need to be very careful about.
“Is this a child who is in second or third grade who does not understand any of this yet? Or is this a kid who's in high school who can read that book and say, ‘Hey, I identify with this character?’ ”
Would you have voted to allow chaplains to serve as counselors in NEISD schools?
“I know that there was a lot of outreach from the community during that decision. … I had heard that there was more against it than for it.
“I personally would have been opposed to that. I don't think it's fair to bring in one particular kind of representation or one point of view, because we do have such a diverse student population.”
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. When it comes to funding and the money, I don't think that there is sufficient accountability as it stands as far as assessments, the metrics for private schools taking those funds. They're not subject to STAAR and some of the same things. We need a baseline to be able to follow where the money is going, and if they're doing the right things with it.
“I’m not unfamiliar with going to Austin and advocating, testifying, working with legislators. So of course, I would go during the legislative session, meet with people, [and] advocate with the full weight and force of the district behind me.
“Ultimately, whether or not vouchers are passed is a legislative issue. We're just going to have to kind of deal with the fallout from that. And instead of looking for alternative ways to fund the district in the face of that, I think our best insulation and the best way that we can combat that is going to be to make this district one where parents want their kids to be here.”
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 know we have a third-party financial auditor. I don't think that we should have an internal audit system. I think that we need an objective third party outside efficiency audit to come in and look at where there is wasteful spending. Find any places we can to trim fat. We need to direct that money back into the classroom to educational resources and teacher salaries.
“Something that I would suggest if I were to become the next trustee in district two, is a zero-based budgeting approach. So we're not going to go off of last year's budget and build off of that. We need to go back to the drawing board, the departments and the programs that we're funding need to come to us to explain what they need, why they need it, and then come back and tell us how they're doing with that to make sure that that where we are spending that money, that they are being good stewards of the funds.”
Single Member District 4 – MacArthur High School cluster
Two candidates are vying to represent the MacArthur High School cluster. David Beyer was appointed to the seat in 2019 and won his first election in 2020. He’s one of only two incumbents on the ballot and the only moderate incumbent.
Jack Hoyle
Age: 71
Occupation: air purification business
Political affiliations: Texas Family Action PAC / San Antonio Family Association
Reason for running: “I saw what was going on. I talked to plenty of parents. A lot of them are disillusioned; a lot of teachers disillusioned.”
Priorities if elected: “The focus has gotten off of the students [and] what they should learn and [become] what people want them to learn.”
“When I was growing up, I was taught the three basics: reading, writing, and arithmetic. I've added a fourth one. I tell people they have to have responsibility.”
Would you have voted for NEISD’s new, more conservative, sex ed curriculum?
“I understand that a lot of teachers feel that they are the ones that need to teach these children that don't belong to them biologically.
“If you didn't birth that child, that child's responsibility belongs to the parents to teach them what they know. … When I was growing up. That [was] the parents’ responsibility.”
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?
“The libraries of the school should have books that the students in those grade levels need to be reading.
“If you're a child growing up and your brain hasn't developed — and nobody's brains develop prior to the mid-twenties anyway — then they shouldn't be reading things that make them like, ‘Why am I? What am I looking at?’ They can't comprehend their alphabet, they can't comprehend their math problems, and they can't read very well. And yet we're putting stuff in there that blows their mind.”
Would you have voted to allow chaplains to serve as counselors in NEISD schools?
“You want my answer to be for or against the question you presented to me. And what I'm saying to you is I will give you what I believe.
“Right now, we're full face evil pushing back on good. We didn't have these challenges when I was growing up. Why? Because people back then believed more in the good, and they weren't twisted in their thinking.
“Let's go back to 1962-63. There was a lady in Texas who had a law license. She did not pass the bar. She was an atheist. She decided that she didn't want prayer in the school. Got that prayer in the school? Up until that time, most schools — which back then were called public schools — they had a prayer, they had a Bible and they had the Ten Commandments usually somewhere in the school. We didn't have shootings. We didn't have muggings. We didn't have rapes. We didn't have violence running rampant. The school system.”
Are you in favor of school vouchers? Would you advocate against them if elected?
Editor's note: This was a question asked at the North East Council of PTAs forum. Jack Hoyle did not attend the forum.
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?
“Well, I don't know enough about that. I only know what I've read and listened to from the videos that are out there about the board meetings or what have you. I don't have the inside scoop, like you really can't make an educated answer to that. So, I'll leave that at the time. But if the question is 'do I have any ideas and know how to run budgets?' Yes, I do. Because you can't stay in business very long if you can't make money.”
David Beyer
Age: 49
Occupation: landscape architect
Political affiliations: Bexar County Champions for Public Education PAC
Reason for running: “We've got a lot of things that have been started under the last four years since I've been here. Things like budget; teacher pay is always a big one. Just a lot of programs that we're starting that I feel like I want to be able to see through. And I think we are going to be in a really crowded educational marketplace in Bexar County, and I think having some continuity and having somebody that can look a little bit bigger picture [is important].
“I think what's at stake [in this election] is NEISD losing a foothold in this competitive marketplace. Kids going to other districts, going to private school. Homeschool has been one of the biggest things that have exploded over the last few years. Charter schools is another one, but we've been coexisting with them for several, several years now."
Priorities if elected: “We can get lost in a lot of things that you read on Facebook and you might see perpetuated in the news that become the big talking points. But there are very big things that we have to be careful of: budgets, keeping our teachers happy, making sure our students are graduating, going into careers, going into the military, going into college. Making sure that we're keeping property tax rates low."
Beyer said he wants the board to spend less time on controversial social issues and more time on things that enable student success.
“Some of those things that we talk about have touch points that elicit a very visceral response from people. I've lived it for the last four years. I just want to make sure that we don't let the proverbial tail wag the dog. That we [don’t have] a small vocal group that starts pushing policy and agenda for the entire district.
“There's a lot of people that want to get their kid to school, they trust that their teachers and administrators are teaching them, leading them down the right path. I've been a parent in the district for 12, 13 years now, and I have never felt unwelcome by a school. I've never felt unwanted or unappreciated.”
What do you think of NEISD’s new sex ed curriculum?
“The most recent one I actually voted against because I felt, and others that I had heard from my community felt, that we were being too soft.
“There was some discussion about language and whether or not an eighth grader or seventh grader could handle some of the wording in the curriculum, and my opinion was, 'let's not beat around the bush, let's tell them what it is. Because if we don't tell them, somebody else is going to tell them.'
“We need to say 'semen' or 'vaginal intercourse' or whatever it is. We need to say that because these kids need to learn it. And if they don't, they're going to find it somewhere else. And I would hate to put kids in a position to where they don't have the correct information.
“We have the ability to opt into things. So, if you don't want your child to do it, you're free to not let your child do it. Let's not hide that from the other thousands of students that might need that information.”
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?
“We have a very, very diverse district. And I think it's important that we make sure diversity of thought and diversity of approach is treated fairly.
“I know that books got pulled off the shelf. They're getting put back on the shelf, and we're putting a lot of trust in our librarians to be that first wave of reviewing, making sure they know what their community school, their neighborhood school wants. And so, I think that process that's in place, again, maybe not perfect, but I think we need to make sure we trust that process.
“And I think it's important for people to have access to things that represent them. And I mean, honest truth is I'm a middle-aged white guy, and I don't understand everything that everybody in the district is going through. I have my own perspective. And so, I'd like to hear from people that are not me, and that helps me understand what they might be going through. And so, I think we have to be careful and not silence any of those voices. Because then we're not the district that we say we are.”
You voted against allowing chaplains to serve as counselors in NEISD schools. Can you talk about that?
“I definitely heard very loud from our community that they did not feel that was appropriate. We heard from several different faith organizations, including chaplains themselves, that that was not appropriate. And I think it was rife with too much uncertainty, not only on how to write the policy, because we would have had to write that, but then what might potentially happen if the wrong situation occurs where somebody hears something that maybe the family doesn’t want them to, and then then where do we go from there?”
Are you in favor of school vouchers? Would you advocate against them if elected? (Question and answer from PTA forum)
“I'm very firmly pro public education. As a sitting board member, I helped support the resolution that we voted on to support our public schools. And I think taking anything away from those public schools is a detriment to 57,000 students that we have.
“There is choice in our district, and there is choice that people already have. You can go to charter schools. You can go to private schools. But we have a very solid, excellent program in our district that allows students to, even within our district, have a choice and a voice in where they want to go. There are magnet programs, there are career and technology programs.
“So, I'm not in favor of vouchers. And I think we in the district need to support what it is our students, our teachers, our staff are doing.”
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 think the last thing we for sure want to touch is staff. We're having a hard time finding custodians, nutrition specialists, bus drivers all the way up through teachers and administration.
“We've for the last five years been sort of trimming where we already know we're going to need to. And I think that [avoiding trimming staff positions], since it's the largest part of our budget, is going to be tough, but I think that's the one we want to [keep]. Obviously, we need to retain that as much as possible.”
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, like, 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 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 for 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, you know, 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 that used — 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 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. 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, you know, 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, 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 6 – Reagan High School cluster
Two candidates are vying to represent the Reagan High School cluster in the Stone Oak area. Steve Hilliard was first elected to the seat in 2020. He is one of only two incumbents on the ballot, and the only conservative incumbent.
Steve Hilliard
Age: “Dad of school-aged children”
Occupation: pilot; retired Air Force officer
Political affiliations: Parents United for Freedom PAC
Reason for running: “I've always told people it's easy to complain and hard to fix and actually putting words into action.
“If you look at the history of the board, before I got on there, there was 700 unanimous votes. Whatever the administration wanted, the trustees just said yes to, every time. And that was a little concerning to me.”
“There was very little deliberation, very few questions asked. And they're supposed to be independent oversight of the district staff and the superintendent.”
Priorities if elected:
“The number one focus has to always be on the kids and improving that high academic standard in their student performance. So, we need to maximize all of their potentials. So, we have to be kind of laser focused on that.
“Making sure that that parent/teacher relationship is really fostered in a very positive role. There's been a disconnect, and it's very hard, especially after elementary school [for parents to connect with teachers].
“Little by little, without parent permission, the relationship has changed. You know, setting up emails, directly, communicating with our kids. It needs to be parent/teacher. Now it's teacher/child.”
Hilliard also said he wants to eliminate a common board policy: notifying the superintendent of campus visits in order to avoid trustee micromanagement.
“As a trustee, I can't even get on the campus without first clearing it with my subordinate, the superintendent,” Hilliard said. “It's like once you become a trustee, you're actually more isolated, not connected. And to me, that is just backwards. Our job is to be know what's going on and have that independent, informed oversight, but establishment doesn't want it that way.”
What do you think of NEISD’s new sex ed curriculum?
“I think it's important for you to understand a little bit of the background about the SHAC, or the School Health Advisory Council. Previously, it was closed.
“I worked very hard, and it took over a year to get it, but we got it opened up.
“It gives every parent the right to choose if they want their child to have it. I think that's great. And so yes, I did vote to support it because I think the process was well done and everybody was behind doing that.”
What are your priorities for sex ed?
“Compliance with the law.” (Before he was a trustee, Hilliard filed a grievance with the district because he felt the sex ed curriculum didn’t meet the requirement that it be abstinence focused and that it encourage students to wait until marriage to have sex.)
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'm unaware of the specific ones. I was assured that no books were banned. That they reviewed them for appropriateness.
“Any parent that wants to, there's a whole library review committee.
“And this falls under the superintendent's staff and the day-to-day stuff.”
You voted against allowing chaplains to serve as counselors in NEISD schools. Would you approve them in the future?
“I was looking at the bill, the way in which it was written and looking at the long-term implications of it.
“It's shown where chaplains go in there is reduced issues as far as behavioral problems and other stuff. But I had to look at the totality of it and consider what was best. In my opinion, not changing our current volunteer program was important to do that, and make sure that we're being focused on the things that we have to do.
“I will look at things as they come up, because there's a lot of what ifs and all that stuff. I don't like hypotheticals.”
Are you in favor of school vouchers? Would you advocate against them if elected? (Question and answer primarily from PTA forum)
Hilliard said he supported the position of the board but did not share his individual opinion on vouchers.
“As a trustee, I support the position of the board. For the last decade, North East ISD has opposed vouchers. So, I don't really understand the relevance of the question, and I'll tell you why. We do not make that decision. That is a legislative decision,” Hilliard said during the forum.
Last spring, Hilliard abstained during a vote on a resolution against vouchers. Hilliard told TPR he felt the resolution was political.
“I knew it was political because eight months ago [during the regular legislative priority discussion], the long-serving trustee said it wasn't needed. And now we're suddenly doing it in the middle of the [legislative] session. I abstained from the vote because, as I said then, I represent the [Single Member District] 6 community. I don't work for TASB.”
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?
“We have to have a holistic approach. We need to look at everything that we're spending money on, looking at the return on investment, and making sure that it's a priority that is tied back to the academics and taking care of our staff as well. So there's not a specific thing to answer your question. We have to make some priorities, decisions that are coming up to make sure we're being good stewards of the taxpayer money.”
Terri Chidgey
Age: 68
Occupation: retired NEISD principal / central office administrator
Political affiliations: Bexar County Champions for Public Education
Reason for running: “I am passionate about public school, and I have a great loyalty and just commitment to North East Independent School District. I feel that North East has been a destination district, and our boards have always been people to be proud of and that work together.
“The last eight years of my career [at NEISD], I was required to sit in every board meeting, and they did not always agree, but they disagreed respectfully, and I just am not seeing that now.”
Priorities if elected: “My opponent and I have a lot of commonalities, but this business of 'We've got to let parents back in the classroom,’ [and] ‘The parents are the first educators of their children’ implies that anybody disagrees with that.”
“I completely agree with that, but I also trust the experts. I also want to validate teachers and honor teachers and listen to what teachers have to say, and put teachers and parents in the same room to make quality decisions on behalf of children.”
“I want to just be there for the kids. I mean, this is about children. Children first. That's who I hope to represent.”
Would you have voted for NEISD’s new sex ed curriculum? What are your priorities for sex ed?
“To provide our students with as much information as possible. They are navigating a very difficult world out there.”
“The idea that abstinence is the first line of education. I believe in that. Absolutely believe in that. But I also believe that if you look at the data, that's not happening.”
“Parents are allowed to opt in. So, if parents don't want them to learn about that. Yeah, that that's their right, and I want to honor 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?
“Parents can opt out. I said opt in for sex ed. Opt out for these folks.
“I've been knocking on a lot of doors, talking to a lot of parents. There are a lot of parents that are angry about that. They want their children to have access — not to anything that is so graphic, but some of the books there’s just an LGBTQ character.
“Some just don't want to include that population in the world right now, and they're there and they're in our schools. And I don't want them shamed. But I want families to be protected that don't want those books for their children.”
Would you have voted to allow chaplains to serve as counselors in NEISD schools?
“Absolutely not. In my schools, counselors are some of the most revered. They're part of the leadership team. They're part of the very fabric of the school. The kids trust them. They've had incredible training. They've had to teach first and then have a master's degree in counseling.
“Our country was founded on religious freedom and founded on the ability to select your religion.”
Are you in favor of school vouchers? Would you advocate against them if elected? (Question and answer primarily from PTA forum)
“I certainly do agree that it is a legislative decision and not a board decision. However, if asked, I will always say I do not support vouchers.
“I believe that public moneys belong in public schools. I also believe that when you compare our public school accountability system to the private school accountability system and even home schools, there is not the same accountability system. There's nobody doing oversight for home-schooled students. The private schools are not required to take the stringent STAAR test that our students are given. And so, they would be taking funds from our public schools. And I just believe in public school, I believe is the great equalizer.
“I will advocate for this, and I have advocated for this at the statehouse. I've done that many times, stating my opinion, going with other teachers. Public educators do not support it. They know how valuable public education is. And we have to preserve it for our students, for all students, not just for some individual students that wants a particular, private school. We give choice in our district.”
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?
“The finance department has been working on this diligently since we knew we had this deficit. And so, before I would answer something like that, I would want to know what they are proposing.
“Eighty-six percent of the budget is staffing. So, what can we do through attrition? Can we combine some programs?”
“I feel confident we're going to have to cut somewhere, but the mission of North East has been to meet the needs of all students and give students choice. And so, my eyes will definitely be looking on that to ensure that we continue with that mission.”
