Campbell received 53% of votes during the May 2025 general election. During his campaign, he placed an emphasis on uniting the school district “for the benefit of all the kids.”
The retired American Airlines pilot and Air Force veteran recently spoke with Community Impact to share his goals for the upcoming 2025-26 school year.
Answers have been edited for length, style and clarity.
Why did you decide to run for a position with the Keller ISD Board of Trustees?
I was watching the board meetings and I could see things were kind of going off the rails. The board was ignoring public input. We were losing good teachers who felt disrespected. Virtually, the entire administration of Keller ISD has been replaced since about 2021-22. The superintendent, the assistant superintendents, our CFO, our COO. That kind of turnover is just not healthy.
[Another] big motivation for me was public education. I grew up in Seguin [near San Antonio], a small town where there was one high school. I believe in diversity; I grew up that way. I don't know anything different. I believe in public education. I believe it's the backbone of a democracy. I believe it's an investment that we make in ourselves. If we don't do that, America is going to suffer. I feel strongly that I need to advocate for public education; we were sliding toward privatization and I didn't want to see that.
How will your background and experience assist you in this position?
I was never in public education before. I was an academic instructor in the Air Force and I taught avionics and navigation systems. I understand the basics of learning theory and how you can teach a lesson plan, but that’s my only education background.
I think my previous experience in the Air Force is also very integrated, very diverse. Nobody really cared in the Air Force where you came from or what your background was. It’s like, ‘Can you learn the material? Can you do the job?’ If you can do that, then we’re good. I’m very objective about it in that way. I focus on the task at hand and let the other issues fall aside.
What are the top-three things on your to-do list as a board member for the upcoming school year?
My first priority is keeping Keller ISD public, united and strong. No more talk of detachment, no more move toward privatization. We’re going to be a TASB [Texas Association of School Boards] school district, not a TEE [Texans for Excellence] school district. That’s my desire. Number two is to regain the trust and confidence of the public in the leadership of the board of trustees and the administration. That we’re spending their dollars wisely and that we’re making good decisions on their behalf. Number three would be a bond [to keep up with the schools’ maintenance]. Making sure people understand the need, they have input on it and they have confidence that we’re making the right decisions.
After the 89th Texas State Legislative Session has ended, a number of school district officials have said updated allocated education funding isn’t enough for local school districts. What’s your take on this situation?
The funding [the state] did give us was much more restrictive in every category. We got raises for teachers, but that money is pretty much passed through. We have very little discretion. We have very little new money that we can spend and we can make decisions on for spending. It’s not only inadequate, in my opinion, but it doesn’t help in the long run for public schools to succeed.
What are the biggest challenges facing the school district? How do you plan to address these challenges?
School funding rebuilding trust with the public after the failed detachment, the lack of adequate state funding and support for the schools, and the shuttering of the National Department of Education are some of the biggest challenges.
I’m only one trustee out of seven. So, what Randy Campbell can do all by himself is pretty limited. What I can do is say that if something doesn’t look right, I’m not going to turn a blind eye to it. That’s happened too much in the past. I’m going to insist on transparency. If people have questions, I’m going to give them the answer. I’m not going to say, ‘Well, you don’t need to know that.’ We need to get away from [the secrecy.]
When you reflect on your childhood education, what are your favorite memories? Do you feel KISD provides similar experiences?
It was very unusual for me to leave Seguin and see areas where [that] were segregated. Either racially, culturally or economically, I thought, ‘Is that really a good thing?’ The detachment was going to have obvious socio-economic lines and that troubles me. If you walk around the neighborhoods around the western side of Fossil Ridge, some of these families, these kids, really benefit from being in a good school district. If we don’t educate our kids to operate in that world, we’re clearly giving them a disservice.
