» Seven to fight for three Austin school board seats,
Winners will have to wrestle with shrinking student population.
Three of five Austin school board seats will be contested on the Nov. 6 ballot.
Those elected will serve threeyear terms for no pay and are tasked with approving the budget, setting the tax rate, establishing policies and evaluating the superintendent.
They will also have to wrestle with a shrinking population at the 81,600-student Austin district. It is expected to tumble by another 1,400 students this school year, which could mean losing millions of dollars in state funding.
Adding to the strain on a budget already in deficit, the district’s recapture payment continues to grow and is projected to hit $669.6 million this year. Under state school finance laws, districts like Austin that have high land values — and hence strong property tax revenue — are required to pay recapture. That portion of their property tax levy goes to the state to help subsidize districts with lower property values.
The district seats that will be contested are:
District 1 — The east and northeast portion of the district, which includes LBJ and Reagan high schools.
Incumbent Ted Gordon, who was elected in 2015, is being challenged by parent LaTisha Anderson.
Gordon, 67, is the University of Texas’ vice provost for diversity and an associate professor in the African and African diaspora studies department. Before becoming a school board member, Gordon served as PTA president for his children’s schools and co-chaired the Austin-AISD African American Quality of Life Education Task Force.
Anderson, 39, is a caregiver for elderly people and those
with disabilities. Anderson served on the planning committee to create single-sex schools for what are now the Garcia Young Men’s Leadership Academy and the Sadler Means Young Women’s Leadership Academy. She also served as board president at two campuses, was a board member of the Austin Council of PTAs and was a volunteer for the city’s African American Resource Advisory Commission.
District 4 — The northwest portion of the district, which includes Anderson High School.
Kristin Ashy is a longtime school volunteer who has served on the district’s facilities and bond committee and the Murchison campus architectural team, which will create a master plan to help carry out the first phase of the school’s projects under the 2017 $1.1 billion bond measure. Ashy, 44, is endorsed by Trustee Julie Cowan, who is not seeking re-election.
Zachary Price, a former Austin district student, is a full-time UT student studying government and liberal arts. He has been an intern for Communities in Schools of Central Texas and served in AmeriCorps VISTA (Volunteers in Service to America) with Austin Partners in Education. Price, 20, also started a nonprofit organization that supports Austin high school students who are learning English.
District 9 — At large. Three candidates are vying for the seat vacated by Kendall Pace, who resigned last summer.
Sam Russo, 34, is a minister who also owns a photography business. Russo has served for 15 years as a district mentor and tutor through Austin Partners in Education and Communities in Schools of Central Texas, and has been on the campus advisory and district advisory councils.
Arati Singh, 46, is an education program evaluator. Singh founded a consulting firm that assists school districts and universities in evaluating college access. She has been an advocacy chairwoman for the Austin Council of PTAs, a Texas PTA Advocacy committee member, a campus PTA president and the campaign treasurer for sitting Trustee Amber Elenz.
Carmen Tilton, 32, is a senior executive policy adviser for the Texas Health and Human Services Commission, coordinating behavioral health programs and grants. Tilton previously worked for three legislators on education policy and spent two years with the Peace Corps in Honduras as a municipal development volunteer.
Incumbents Geronimo Rodriguez, whose District 6 seat represents South Austin and includes Crockett and Travis high schools, and Yasmin Wagner, whose District 7 seat represents Southwest Austin and includes Bowie High School, did not draw challengers.