Candidates talk about state funding, changing demographics

Position 3 incumbent challenged; two newcomers vie for Position 4

Changing demographics, school choice and state funding inequities are among issues being discussed in Cy-Fair ISD, where contested races exist for two of four school board seats up for election.

Candidates for Position 3 in the Nov. 3 election are incumbent Darcy Mingoia, former executive director of the Lone Star College Foundation and past president of the Cy-Fair Chamber of Commerce, and Natalie Blasingame, a 23-year educator who is an assistant superintendent in Houston Independent School District.

Running for Position 4 are Debbie Blackshear, retired after 28 years with the Cy-Fair Federal Credit Union, and Pam Redd, a licensed attorney who has been a teacher and principal in Cy-Fair ISD and works as an elementary principal in Spring Branch Independent School District. The seat is held by Kevin Hoffman, who did not seek re-election.

Incumbent trustees Tom Jackson of Position 1 and Christine Hartley of Position 2 are unopposed in their re-election bids. Like Mingoia, both are in their first terms on the school board.

Early voting continues through Oct. 30.

All candidates say they moved to Cy-Fair because of the district’s reputation for quality schools. All volunteer in local schools and praise the district’s academic and fiscal performance.

The state’s third-largest school district is the largest where, for the third straight year, every campus “met standard” in the state’s accountability system. It’s also won state awards for fiscal responsibility and efficiency, and the school board was recently named the state’s best by an organization of school administrators.

Still, incumbents and candidates see room for improvement.

At a recent candidate forum held by the district, Mingoia said more work is needed to close achievement gaps among minority students and to lobby to address inequities in state funding. Offering competitive pay and benefits is a priority to recruit and retain quality employees, she said.

The district’s fast growth —27,000 new students in the past decade for a total enrollment of 114,000 — has brought increasing diversity. About 100 languages are spoken in the district, and nearly half the students are economically disadvantaged.

“A vote for me is a vote for all students,” Mingoia said.

Blasingame said that as a trustee, she would rely on her experience in fostering strong outcomes for Title I schools and in engaging parents from diverse backgrounds. She hears parents asking for more school choice and advocates programs that develop the whole child — mind, body and spirit. Choice options could work at schools in older neighborhoods that have fewer school-age children, she added.

Redd said the district’s English-language learners already outperform peers in other districts. Still, she would be interested to see CFISD consider a pilot program. She also spoke highly of the district’s only high school of choice, Windfern, which her daughter attended.

“I’m the voice that the board doesn’t have,” Redd said. “It’s a good board, but I think I bring a different perspective. I bring diversity.”

Blackshear’s 37 years as a Cy-Fair resident includes service on a range of school and community organizations. In her view, the biggest challenges facing the district are its fast growth, changing demographics and state funding inequities.

At the forum, she said the funding issue has been discussed for years and called it “ridiculous.”

“It’s imperative we keep hammering our elected officials until we get this resolved,” Blackshear said.

Video of the entire forum can be viewed on the district’s YouTube channel at https:// www.youtube.com/ watch?v=17ftyeC8G8c

A voter guide published by the school district provides voting times and locations along with detailed profiles of each school board candidate. The guide can be found on the district’s website at www.cfisd.net. Copies also are available in the CFISD Communications Department, 10300 Jones Road.