Asanga Jayatilaka[/caption]

Asanga Jayatilaka, an engineer, has filed for the Place 4 seat on the Frisco ISD board of trustees election. Election will be held on May 6.

Anne McCausland, who is running again for another term, currently holds the Place 4 seat and is board president. McCausland has held the position as board member since 2011.

Jayatilaka is a former FISD student and graduated from Frisco High School in 2011.

He said in high school he had a teacher who was an avid proponent of being involved in local politics, and it stuck with him.

“I want to give back and help the district in any way possible,” Jayatilaka said. “Education has always been important to me. It has brought me to where I am today, and Frisco ISD has helped me immensely towards that. And now that I am not a student, I want to be involved and use my experience to help future generations.”

Jayatilaka said he wants to use his first hand experience as a former FISD student to provide a perspective that is different from the rest of the school board.

“I think it’s a unique outlook that could help with future endeavors,” he said.

Jayatilaka said two issues he would like to focus on are finances and college readiness.

“[In regards] to the financial issue, [I want] to make sure that our students’ needs are being met,” he said. “[I want to] make sure we’re not risking or injuring the students’ experience as we look at possible budget cuts and/or possible tax increases later on.”

Jayatilaka said he believes FISD already does a good job with preparing students for college especially with the Career and Technical Education Center. However, he said he believes it can be improved upon and can expand opportunities to the middle and elementary schools.

“I think we have the opportunity to allow kids to be extremely prepared for life after graduation,” he said. “I see that we have an increasing diverse population to solidify our standing as a great school district.”

Jayatilaka has lived in Frisco for 12 years. He studied civil engineering at the University of Texas at Austin and now works as a civil engineer at an engineering firm in Frisco.

Jeff Snowden has also filed to run for Place 4. For more information on Asanga Jayatilaka, click here.