Two new trustees at work

The Stafford Municipal School District board of trustees recently welcomed two new board members — Manuel Hinojosa and Xavier Herrera — while bidding a fond farewell to another who’d served on the board for 17 years, Ettienne Zak, who says he wants to continue to be involved with the district..

Zak, who was first elected in 1998, won 663 votes but was defeated by by Hinojosa who won 666 votes in the May 9 election. A May 18 recount didn’t change the outcome.

Hinojosa, who was making his first run at elected office, said he was thrilled to be sworn in to serve as trustee, especially since he’d attended Stafford schools as a child.

A number of significant challenges face Stafford MSD in the coming years, and many of those are related to growth, and figuring out ways that the district intends to compete with larger surrounding districts, as well as with private school academies and charter schools.

“All of those are vying and competing for the best talent (student and teachers),” Hinojosa said. “The district needs to figure out how to successfully compete for that talent without going overboard and breaking our finances, and truly start to retain and have some continuity with our instructors and teachers.”

Herrera said that the board needs to stay the course and exceed the progress that has been made.

The college and career education center is an asset, he said, that needs to be expanded.

He called it “one of the biggest stars that we have to offer to our students.”