Places 1, 2 and 3 are up for re-election. Only current member Scott Stribling—who also serves as board president—remained unopposed for seat 1. Current board member Andy Webb and candidate Jennifer Wood have filed for Place 3, and Brian Ortego and Elizabeth McFarland have filed for the Place 2 position currently filled by Scott Alarcon, who decided not to run for re-election. The filing deadline was Feb. 15.
“As president of the board for the past two years, I am thankful for the trust of our community,” Stribling said. “I am running for re-election because simply put, we still have work to do. We have made significant strides during the past four years to ensure that every student has every opportunity to succeed and need to continue that important work.”
The board has worked to define the district’s core values and learner profile, which emphasizes building schools and developing curriculum that allows for flexible teaching and learning.
Webb, who has filed for his third term, said he seeks to remain on the board in order to continue the work the board has already done.
“We have had a chance to see the organization serving our students, teachers and families make important strides,” he said.
School board members serve three-year terms and are responsible for approving the district’s budget, among other duties. The board also hires and evaluates the superintendent. Current GISD Superintendent Fred Brent was hired in 2014. Since then, the district has seen two bond elections—a 2015 bond package of $160.6 million and a 2018 bond package of $150.5 million—in which most of the money was allotted to building new schools to accommodate growth, increase security and makes repairs to older campuses.
Ortego said if elected, he will look to further progress the district’s plan of the learner profile, which he said has slowed.
“I think that after almost fifteen years of building new schools and facilities and achieving many goals, we still have unmet needs,” Ortego said. “My goal is to move forward on strategic goals that the community agreed upon five years ago.”
McFarland and Wood said they too want to focus on measuring student and educator achievement and to ensure all students were educated equally.
The last day to register to vote in the May election is April 4.
Early in-person voting is April 22-30. In the early voting period, voters may cast ballots at any early voting location in Williamson County.
On election day May 4, voters may cast ballots at any voting center location in Williamson County. Polling places, dates and times will be listed at wilco.org/elections.
Correction: An earlier version of this story did not include candidate Jennifer Wood as a Place 3 candidate.
