The forum was hosted April 8 by the Clear Lake Area Chamber of Commerce.
What you need to know
There are two competitive races for CCISD board of trustees, which are position 1 and at-large position B.
Early voting for the upcoming May 3 election runs from April 22-29, according to the district’s website.
Position 1
For this race, incumbent Jessica Cejka will face current Seabrook City Council member Joe Machol.
In a portion of the forum in which candidates chose the topic to discuss, Cejka chose curriculum and instruction, and said she would not adopt a different curriculum than what CCISD’s curriculum committee recommends, including Bluebonnet Learning.
Bluebonnet Learning is a curriculum that offers state-developed instructional materials for reading and math, and covers all Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills, according to the Texas Education Agency.
“Bluebonnet Learning materials kind of pull in religion,” she said. “We’re really strong in curriculum right now. At this time I would not vote to adopt that curriculum in our district.”
Machol discussed the district’s facilities, in which he believes CCISD should “hold off on bonds for now.”
“Right now the people are saying no to a lot of different things because we’ve gone through a recession [and] people’s incomes have not come back yet,” Machol said. “However, if and when you do need a school or you need an HVAC system on a school, of course you have to take care of that.”
At-large Position B
For this race, incumbent Scott Bowen will face Rebecca Lilley, the director of community and physician engagement for Memorial Hermann.
Bowen chose to discuss policy, in which he believes cellphone policies need to be revisited soon.
“I think that is becoming a dire issue, just the distraction that [it] creates [and] the impact of social media on children,” Bowen said. “It is harming education, harming children and even if the legislature doesn’t force our hand, which they might, I think that’s still something that we’re going to have to take action on fairly soon.”
Lilley chose to discuss public education advocacy. She said if she were to discuss education with state representatives and senators, she would advocate to raise the average daily allotment, which is $6,160 per student.
“Our allotment has not increased and kept up with inflation, and it has not increased since 2019, so I would absolutely advocate for increasing the allotment per student,” Lilley said.
More details
The full debate can be viewed on Clear Lake Area Chamber of Commerce’s YouTube page.
