Place 3 school board candidates spell it out
Incumbent touts plan for bond package; challenger says he’d bring new energy.
Bastrop school board incumbent Billy Moore has received a challenge from Cedar Creek resident Tommy Hazleton for the Place 3 seat.
The candidates answered a questionnaire from the Advertiser on matters of interest in the school district. Here’s where Moore, a photographer, and Hazleton, a real estate broker and agent, stand on the issues. (To read the full Q&A, visit bastropadvertiser.com.) If elected, what will be your number-one priority for the school district and how will you see it through?
Moore: Our district has recently been recognized as a rapid-growth district and Bastrop County has been identified as the 11th-fastest growing county in the state. Our students and teachers need the facilities and materials to prepare for this growth and prepare for the growth in enrollment that it means. The district is in the process of evaluating priorities in utilizing existing campuses, repurposing and rehabbing them to maximize capabilities while minimizing expenditures. With board oversight and utilizing public input, we can develop a plan that accomplishes these goals to properly provide for these needs, ensuring continued student and campus success while providing successful schools, resulting in an attrac- tive and healthy functioning community. The future of Bastrop’s quality of life is dependent on planning for growth that is inevitable. I will actively support a bond package that addresses these concerns for our students, staff and community.
Hazleton: My number-one priority will be listening and learning as much as I can about our particular school system so I can better understand the dynamics at play in such a complicated arena. From there I will work with my fellow trustees to ensure the district is moving forward in the best way possible. To do that, I intend to use my position on the board to advocate for financial accountability and increased teacher support while working toward a broader geographic representation across our sprawling district. This next school board lineup will still be facing most of the same issues they were before this election. If I am elected, I will be a new and different variable into that otherwise exact same equation. I will bring my own passion and creativity along with a fresh sense of vigor to the table that I hope will inspire and affect change where it is needed most. Why should voters elect you over your opponent?
Moore: I bring years of experience in education and a passion for learning and supporting the youths of our community to help them be successful. I trained as a teacher, have a Sec- ondary Teacher Certification and have spent many hours in support of our schools through PTA activities, booster clubs and volunteering in classrooms and at school activities and events. I have seen the amazing successes of many of our students in their pursuits in education and life experiences following their graduation from our schools and I deeply believe in the basic democratic fundamentals of public education. Our future as a community, a country and of our world depends on our youths overcoming ignorance and intolerance and realizing the necessity of becoming lifetime learners to be active and involved members in a rapidly changing world. I am equally committed to careful oversight of our community resources and will diligently continue that approach.
Hazleton: My family makes it a point to eat dinner together almost every night. So every night for the past few years I’ve heard about what happens at school each day. I’ve got three beating hearts out there every day. Sometimes I hear things that are troubling, and sometimes I hear about things that are heartwarming and wonderful. I listen every day to these stories and I truly believe I can help make those stories better.
Early voting runs through May 2. Election Day is May 6.