KYLE — A few seats on the Hays CISD Board of Trustees are up for grabs in the upcoming election.
The Hays County League of Women Voters held a Hays CISD candidate forum at Kyle City Hall on April 6. Johnny Flores and Dr. Esmeralda Pérez-González, both vying for the Single-Member-District 2 seat, were present. Pérez-González has held the seat since December 2021 when she was voted in by the board to fill a vacancy.
Johnny Flores[/caption]
Flores is a father, educator and Hays County resident. While he said that the students and teachers in the district “shine bright” whether it's through academics, athletics or fine arts, he believes that the school board could do better.
“If we add up the bond money since 2014 with this year’s proposed bond, this district would have spent roughly a billion dollars on our schools,” Flores said. “Yet, even with that money, there exists a significant achievement gap between schools east of I-35 and District 2 and in the rest of Hays CISD. I believe we can do better, so I intend to be a voice on the school board that will speak up and speak out and will finally give kids in District 2 the voice that they deserve.”
Pérez-González is a bilingual educator, having been in education for 40 years. She is a founding faculty member of Camino Real Elementary and is a National Board-Certified Teacher, the highest certification a teacher can earn.
“Safety and security are paramount to us in our district and student achievement is something that I take very, very seriously as an educator,” Pérez-González said. “I’d also like to ensure that we continue to have our competitive salaries for all of our staff.”
Addressing diversity and inclusion to ensure equity
Esmeralda Pérez-González[/caption]
Flores said that one way to champion inclusivity within the district is zoning attendance maps.
“We have schools coming into Hays CISD with the massive growth. We need to make sure that our zoning in no way ever has any partition,” Flores said. “We need to zone because when we have different voices in the community together – people of different colors, people of different backgrounds — we are stronger together.”
“We also need to champion equality of opportunity,” he added. “No matter who you are or where you’re from, you should always have access to quality education.”
Pérez-González said that as both an educator in the district and school board member, she has experienced the diversity and equity among all of the campuses and works to ensure that each campus has all of the instructional resources and personnel needed.
“I know and have been working with families and Title 1 campuses my whole entire career, so I know what it is that they need. I always strive to ensure that fairness and equity come across the board for everyone,” Pérez-González said. “I am all about all students [and] all schools.”
Addressing the fentanyl crisis
Pérez-González spoke about the district’s ongoing awareness campaign regarding fentanyl and praised Hays CISD’s Chief Safety & Security Officer Jeri Skrocki for her efforts. Information on this campaign, along with resources, can be found at .
Flores said that the district cannot “police our way out of this,” and that in the upcoming bond election there is no money or incentive to address the mental health issues that are contributing to students’ fentanyl use.
“We have to address the underlying issues related to why these kids are medicating. Why are they choosing to take this drug?” Flores said. “We need more mental health support for these children. Whether it's because of the rise of anxiety and depression among kids, what are we as a school board doing about this? … If we could spend $53 million on outdoor pavilions, why can we not spend $53 million on a resource center for kids where they can get help even beyond school hours, even in the summer?”
Supporting current and future employees for retention
Flores believes that, to educators, it is not just about the pay that is important when it comes to retention. Providing support — such as holding students accountable when there are behavioral issues and not leaving teachers to handle student mental health problems — is also key.
“We need to do our best to retain teachers not only with pay, but allowing them to have the work-family balance that they deserve and finally treating them with respect,” Flores said. “Post-COVID, things have changed. Education and teaching is not what it was 10, even five years ago. There are certain needs now that teachers are requiring. That is why we see burnout across this country among educators.”
Pérez-González said that the district is an employee-friendly district, offering competitive salaries, are active listeners to teachers and readily provide resources that are needed.
“We are able to ensure that they have everything in-hand they need so they can ensure our students are getting the best quality education possible,” Pérez-González said.
Other topics that Flores and Pérez-González discussed during the half-hour long forum included social and emotional learning, what school safety looks like to them, whether they were for or against school choice, their thoughts on the upcoming bond election and how to balance local taxpayer concerns with district needs.
Vanessa Petrea, trustee at-large who currently serves as president of the board, is running unopposed and was not present at the forum; she was declared elected in March. Also not present at the forum were both candidates for Single-Member-District 1, Raul Vela Jr. and Bill Ward. Vela was first elected to the board in 2020 and currently serves as vice president.
The forum can be watched at www.lwvhaysco.com under the Events/Forums & Webinars tab. Early voting begins April 24 and runs through May 2. Election Day is Saturday, May 6. A complete list of voting days, times and locations can be found at .
