Incumbents Robert Sitton and Martina Lemond Dixon won their bids for re-election for positions 1 and 5, respectively, in the May 1 election, while board newcomers Chris Parker and Ken Kirchhofer won their bids for positions 3 and 4, respectively.
At the June 8 school board meeting, HISD Superintendent Elizabeth Fagen thanked them for applying to serve on the board, which is a four-year term.
"This community is genuinely the very best place for children, and one of the reasons why is because of people like you—all of you—who are willing to do this job for free," Fagen said. "Not only do the trustees come and participate in this meeting, of course, which is a meeting of the trustees, but many of them lead board subcommittees and do a lot of additional work on behalf of the board so that we have efficient board meetings that have been well vetted."
Rep. Dan Huberty, R-Houston, was in attendance to read the oath of office to both Sitton and Lemond Dixon. Sitton attributed Huberty as an someone who encouraged him to run for the board 10 years ago. He said that outside of his marriage and children, serving on the board has been one of the most rewarding periods of his life.
"I was recently re-elected for one more term, and at the end of this term will be 14 years," Sitton said. "I want to thank Dan publicly for everything he's done for me and for my family. He swore me in 10 years ago, and I thought it's fitting to have him back to do it one more time."
Lemond Dixon, who has served on the board since 2017, thanked friends, family and committee members for attending the meeting. She also thanked board members who served on the board before her.
"I just want to shout out to Mr. [Charles] Cunningham and Dr. [Bonnie] Longnion: Thank you so much for blazing the trail before us, and thank you for being here tonight," she said.
Parker, who was elected to Position 3, is a Kingwood High School alumnus, a licensed insurance agent with more than 20 years of experience and a longtime volunteer. Parker thanked friends, families and community members for electing her to Position 3.
“It's been a wonderful experience. I've enjoyed every minute of it," she said. "I think I am the first Kingwood High School graduate to be on the board of trustees, so it's a big deal to me."
Kirchhofer, who was elected to Position 4, said he was excited to get involved in the district’s career and technical education programs and the Humble Education Foundation. Kirchhofer, who is the director of operations at the Atascocita Golf Club, has been active in HISD programs since 2011.
"I'm very thankful to be here, for obvious reasons. I've lived here for 22 years, and I feel like there's so much more we can do," he said. "I guess it's been six months and two days since I broke my neck, and we never wavered. ... It was a great distraction trying to get out of a hospital bed, try to walk again [and] try to get to here."
In addition to swearing in board members, trustees also unanimously voted to reappoint board positions. Lemond Dixon will serve as board president, Robert Scarfo as vice president, Lori Twomey as secretary and Nancy Morrison as parliamentarian. Sitton, who was the former board president, will serve as a school board member along with Parker and Kirchhofer.
