Incumbent Angie Cox is running for the Lewisville ISD board of trustees Place 3 seat.

Community Impact Newspaper sent Cox a set of questions about her candidacy. Her answers have been edited for publication style.

Why did you decide to run for office?


LISD is a big part of my life and community. I ran 6 years ago for the love of children and their future. I had four children in the district and felt I had knowledge from a business owner and parent’s perspective on the needs of the district. I have a passion to serve and want to advocate for all 52,000+ students as well as our teachers and staff. I have seen many changes in our district and implementations of new programs such as the Collegiate, Stem, and Discover Academy. I am so proud of the work of the Facilities Committee, and then the voters approved the 2017 bond. Many projects have already begun, and many are still to be implemented. I want to continue the work and efforts of our board and district to make sure we continue the success for the future our students.

What do you think is one of the biggest issues facing LISD today? How do you plan to address it on the school board?


Our greatest issue is school finance. This is not an issue that we can fix locally. It’s a combined effort with our state and local community. Funding formulas have not been updated since the 1980s. This is not something that can be fixed overnight, but there has been a great movement in conversation and legislators in Austin trying to make a conscious effort to make change. We have to keep discussions going with our county and legislators in Austin to seek relief and change for the funding formulas for public education and how this affects the local taxpayer as well. This is one of our legislative priorities for LISD, which we have shared with our local communities, chambers of commerce and legislators in Austin. This is not just an LISD challenge but a Texas challenge that has to be addressed for the future of public education taxpayers continuing to carry the burden. We need our local community educated as to how school finance works so there is a better understanding. The district continues to keep our tax rate at the lowest possible rate as well as refinancing bonds for savings with our interest payments and paying them off early. There are multiple pieces to addressing the issue, and it affects everyone in the state of Texas. 

If elected, what will be your top priorities?


My top priority will be student achievement. I am so proud of our district and our teachers and staff of their hard work and dedication to our students. We have to make sure we are providing a quality education to each and every one of our students while being good stewards of taxpayer money. I am very excited about opportunities our students have with the Stem, Discovery and Collegiate Academy that LISD offers. We are fortunate to be in a district that develops their own curriculum and provides the necessary support to our teachers to help them be successful in the classroom. I want to make sure we have opportunities for all of our students and make sure they are prepared for their future upon graduation.

I am looking forward to the new Career Center on the west side that will give more students opportunities for career and tech classes provided to all our high schools. Through the district's efforts to have community outreach, we are providing more opportunities for business and community partners to come share information and mentor our students.  We are able to help our students seek job opportunities and internships.

What experiences professionally or politically do you have that would prepare you for the position?


I currently have served in the LISD board of trustees roll for 6 years. The last two years I have served as the president. I spend over 20 hours a week in attending meetings and staying informed on the needs of our district and what is going on nationally and in our state. I work locally in the community and own my own business. I visit our schools and ask questions to stay informed on the needs of our district. I am very involved in my community and continue to advocate for LISD and seek opportunities for our students.