Two new faces will join the ranks of the Plano ISD board of trustees May 21.

Cody Weaver and Heather Wang defeated their opponents May 4 to join the board for places 7 and 4, respectively.

The board of trustees recognized outgoing board President Missy Bender, Place 7, and trustee Yoram Solomon, Place 4, at their May 7 meeting.

On May 7, two flags flew at the state Capitol in honor of Bender and Solomon, Superintendent Sara Bonser said.

“Both of these dedicated servants spent countless, and I mean countless, hours working for the betterment of the educational experience of each Plano ISD student,” Bonser said. "And now they are at nearly 53,000-plus [students], so it is a huge responsibility in working to meet the needs of all students."

Wang said she plans to meet with each board member as she begins her new role. She said she also plans to hold regular meetings with members of the public.

“Parents, teachers … if they have any concerns and suggestions, I’m open,” Wang said. "I really believe a board member should be the bridge between the community and the district.”

Weaver said one of his priorities will be ensuring safety and security on PISD campuses.

“I think one of the first things I’ll do is the same thing I did during my campaign,” Weaver said. “[I plan to] reach out to a lot of the people that are on the ground ... and just get a better understanding of what we did in the past and what we are currently doing and what does the future of safety and security look like for Plano ISD.”

Wang won with 52.4% of the vote, and Weaver won with 48.9%. Both Wang and Weaver competed against two other candidates. PISD does not hold runoff elections unless two candidates seeking the same seat receive the same number of votes.

Bender announced in January she would not seek re-election so she could focus on advocating for school finance reform.

“I really feel like we have some opportunity to see significant improvement in public education funding this [legislative] session,” Bender said in January. “The timing of the session and the timing of a re-election campaign coincide, and I feel like I need to invest all of my energy in the opportunity to see school finance reform through."

Bender has been an outspoken voice in favor of restructuring Texas’ school finance formulas and testified in front of the state's school finance commission last year.

“The legislative priorities and the leadership in that regard, you’ve made an impact—yes locally—but statewide,” trustee Nancy Humphrey said. “There is going to be a rather big void, and I hope that we have you around to ask for guidance on those issues."