Brittany Kelley
KYLE — The Hays CISD Board of Trustees will have several candidates vying for positions for the Saturday, May 2, election.
Current trustee Raul Vela Jr. will return to his Single Member District 1 seat for the 2026-29 term, as he is unopposed.
Conversely, trustees Johnny Flores and Vanessa Petrea, who sit in the Single Member District 2 and Trustee At-Large seat, respectively, will not be running for reelection.
Flores opted to run for the Hays County Commissioners Precinct 2 seat and secured his position for the November election, following his win in the March primary.
Petrea took to social media to announce her decision, stating that, “After much thought and reflection, I have decided that I will not be running for reelection to serve on the Hays CISD Board of Trustees … Hays CISD is a special place because of the people who show up every day for our students and I will always be proud to have played a small part in that work since joining the board in 2017. I look forward to continuing to support public education and our community in new ways.”
Instead, community members will see new faces, with Katy Armstrong, Jose Luis Perez, Alex Zavala and Ashlee Thurston campaigning for the seats.
Armstrong, running for the Single Member District 2 seat, previously participated in the May 2024 election, but lost to trustee Geoff Seibel.
“While this is a single-member position, I will still represent all students, families and staff across the district with integrity, honesty and passion,” said Armstrong.
She stated that she pledges to support district families, trim the budget and listen and learn.
Contending for the same seat is Perez, a father of four. According to his campaign page, he has lived in Kyle for the past 16 years.
The at-large position will be held by either Zavala or Thurston.
“My family has called this area home for more than five generations. My parents, aunts, uncles and siblings attended these schools and I did, too,” said Zavala. “Now, my kids are in Hays CISD — along with countless cousins and members of our extended family. I’m a local, family-run small business owner and I’ve spent years serving through [parent-teacher associations], district committees/councils and nonprofit work.”
Thurston’s candidate application detailed that she lives in Buda and has been in the county for seven years.
For more information on the upcoming election, visit www.hayscisd.net/o/hcisd/page/election2026.
