The field is set for Austin ISD’s board of trustees election in November. Lynn Boswell and Kevin Foster drew no challengers for their reelection bids, so we don’t need to talk about them. However, Ofelia Maldonado Zapata and Noelita Lugo, the board’s two Hispanic members, have decided not to run again. Eight candidates are vying to replace them.
Sarah Ivory is campaigning for Zapata’s District 2 seat, which takes in East and Southeast Austin. Ivory lives in Dove Springs, where two of her three children attend AISD schools. She describes herself as a career educator who once went into labor while working at a school in Del Valle. “I’ve taught elementary school, middle school, and high school,” Ivory said. “I’ve served as a cheerleading coach, a behavior specialist, a new teacher mentor, and an assistant principal.” Like all the contenders, Ivory believes that balancing AISD’s budget will be a major challenge over the next few years but wants to make sure the district continues to increase teacher and staff pay.
Ivory will face LaRessa Quintana, a poised 29-year-old with a compelling personal story. Quintana was placed in foster care as a child (her parents later died of drug overdoses), and was sent to live with her aunt in Austin, where she became part of the first class of the Ann Richards School for Young Women Leaders. She said the experience saved her life.
“The number of foster kids who graduate from high school is dismal; the percentage of foster kids who go to college even lower,” Quintana said. “But I had amazing teachers and staff and schoolmates at the Ann Richards School, and I feel very lucky to have had that. But it should not be unique to that school. We should have all of those resources – the wraparound resources, the college resources, the social services resources – available in every District 2 school.”
Quintana works in public relations, ran Vanessa Fuentes’ campaign for City Council in 2020, and has worked with legislators in the Capitol. She’s not a fan of charter schools, which perhaps helps explain why Education Austin, the union for Austin ISD’s teachers and staff, gave her its valuable endorsement at a candidate forum last weekend.
Position 8, the at-large seat being vacated by Noelita Lugo, has drawn six challengers. Amy Moore wants to use community outreach to boost enrollment in hopes of bringing more state money into the district. The mother of three AISD graduates, Moore worked for 15 years with Austin Partners in Education, a nonprofit which has tutored more than 2,500 students in the district to enhance their college readiness.
“Families of four out of 10 students in our district boundaries are saying ‘no’ to AISD.” – Candidate Lindsey Stringer
Moore ticked off the challenges facing the district: “Building trust and community engagement across the district is imperative. Growing our enrollment is a huge undertaking. Attracting and retaining staff in one of the most expensive cities to live in Texas is incredibly difficult. Addressing our special education challenges in a robust and mindful way is long overdue. Using an equity lens in all of our decisions to ensure our children get the resources they need to thrive in AISD is non-negotiable.”
Lindsey Stringer is a graduate of Austin’s public schools and the LBJ School of Public Affairs. She’s also an AISD parent and a member of the PTA who has been affiliated with Teach for America, a nonprofit that has been described as an arm of the charter school movement. Stringer wants to ensure the district satisfies the demands of the Texas Education Agency, which is currently overseeing the district’s provision of special education services, to make certain the state agency leaves the district at the end of next year.
Stringer told us she’s running to ensure that the district prepares all students to thrive in college and career. “That isn’t happening right now,” she said. “Families of four out of 10 students in our district boundaries are saying ‘no’ to AISD. Eight out of 10 economically disadvantaged students did not meet the expectations for Algebra I last year [and we] have one of the lowest starting salaries in the area for new teachers. All of these challenges are connected.”
Fernando Lucas de Urioste worked in AISD for nine years and for five of those as a special education teacher before working at the Cirkiel Law Group and the Texas Organization of Parent Attorneys and Advocates. De Urioste taught students with autism and emotional dysregulation and said the district needs to serve this population well to reverse declining enrollment.
“We need to compete with and win against the charter schools, outside districts, and private alternatives that families have turned to over the past years,” de Urioste said. “Family engagement and satisfaction are keys to combating declining enrollment.” De Urioste has also received Education Austin’s endorsement.
Three more candidates are running for Position 8. Nathaniel Hellman, a police officer at Austin Community College who is looking for a campaign manager, would like to see AISD play a role in solving the homelessness and mental health crises. Dylan “Sky” MacAdams, a recent UT graduate arrested for participating in the pro-Palestine demonstrations last spring, is proposing free lunches for all students and staff and says his lack of experience in education is a positive that will allow him to have an open mind on issues before the board. Neither the Chronicle nor Education Austin have been able to reach Nick Franke to ask about his priorities.
This article appears in August 30 • 2024.
