Robert Schneider was first elected to the Austin ISD board of trustees in 2002.[/caption]The Austin ISD board of trustees is slated to appoint a District 7 representative to serve for a year after the death of District 7 trustee Robert Schneider on July 28 created the vacancy.
Schneider, who had been on the AISD board since 2002, was to serve through 2018.
Schneider’s District 7 included the residents of Southwest Austin.
Trustees called a special meeting on Aug. 3 to honor Schneider and figure out how to fill the vacancy. His seat on the dais was decorated with flowers and a photo of him.
Trustees and Superintendent Paul Cruz thanked Schneider’s family for allowing him to be away from home to serve on the board.
“I always called him Mr. Schneider,” Cruz said. “He will always be Mr. Schneider to me.”
District 2 trustee Jayme Mathias said Schneider was his mentor when he was first elected to the board in November 2012.
Special or regular election?
The board had two options: either hold a special election in November for the District 7 seat or include the race in the November 2016 election, when other districts will be up for contention. If the latter was chosen, then trustees would need to appoint someone for the interim period.
It was not an option to appoint someone to the position for the remainder of Schneider’s term, which lasts through November 2018, board President Gina Hinojosa said.
Weighing the options
Trustees met on Aug. 10 to continue discussion of which route the board should take. Travis County Clerk Dana DeBeauvoir was present at the meeting to answer questions the board had about special elections.
Mathias asked DeBeauvoir how voter turnout may differ between a November 2015 election and a November 2016 election. Using historical county election data, DeBeauvoir told the board a 2015 election may have a 15 percent turnout, but a 2016 election may have a 50 percent turnout.
Election cost was another factor the trustees had to consider. AISD budgets $450,000 annually for elections, and a November 2015 special election with a runoff is estimated to cost $360,000.
“For an open seat, you are very likely to have multiple candidates,” DeBeauvoir said to trustees.
Timing was another issue. The board has been debating whether to buy land for a new high school in South Austin using voter-approved bond funds.
Matthew Markert, who spoke during the public comment period, asked the board to wait until after next year to make any decisions on Southwest Austin issues if an appointment is made.
The appointment process
Trustees voted 4-4 for motions to either hold a November special election or make a one-year appointment. Trustees Amber Elenz, Ann Teich, Kendall Pace and Hinojosa were for a November election, and trustees Julie Cowan, Edmund Gordon, Paul Saldaña and Mathias were for an appointee.
The split vote outcomes meant that the board will not be proceeding with a special election and will instead begin the conversation on making an appointment, Hinojosa said.
One suggestion Gordon made to trustees was appointing the runner-up in the Nov. 4, 2014, District 7 election, which Schneider won, saying it is a procedure other school districts in similar situations have used before.
Trustees met again Aug. 17 to decide between appointing the runner-up or holding an open application process. The latter was chosen.
Teich said District 7 residents voiced their support for open applications.
Details of the open application process were not decided upon. Trustees will meet Aug. 25 to decide.
