Deigaard for Dist. V
She’s proven herself an effective leader for HISD with knowledge of governance, finance.
With a track record of more than a decade of public education advocacy, Houston ISD board trustee incumbent Sue Deigaard is the clear choice for voters in the District V runoff election.
In the next four years, Houston ISD leaders will be tasked with helping students who’ve fallen further behind during the pandemic, and must face down funding challenges and improve its dozens of poorly performing schools. The board needs leaders who understand the challenges the district faces — and the expertise to enact necessary changes. Deigaard has shown in her first term that she’s an effective leader with a deep reservoir of knowledge in governance and finance.
In a second term, Deigaard said she would press for continued improvements to HISD’s special needs education. She said she wants to provide better funding for the district’s worst-performing schools, and also devote more resources to schools that are performing “fine” yet still need improvement. Additionally, she wants the district’s spending audited.
Deigaard, 52, served a one-year stint in 2020 as board president. She counts among her recent accomplishments backing the teachers’ raises the board approved this summer.
Another plus: She didn’t participate in the 2018 debacle in which state officials contend multiple trustees violated the Texas Open Meetings Act by meeting with a former HISD superintendent and then days later, voting without public debate to install him as superintendent and oust the interim leader. Deigaard touts her belief in the value of transparent, honest leadership, and appears to practice what she preaches.
Deigaard’s runoff challenger, 39-year-old Caroline Walter, is engaged in an impressive range of community service activities, and has a passion for supporting students. But Walter lacks Deigaard’s policy expertise and doesn’t have a comparable track record of education advocacy or involvement. She also has referred to mask mandates as “tyranny” on social media, which we find troubling when paired with her overall policy inexperience.
We supported Deigaard in the November general election because of her expertise and commitment to transparent governance, and we also supported her initial candidacy in 2017. We urge District V voters to support Sue Deigaard for re-election. Students in Texas’ largest school district will benefit from another term of her leadership.