A momentus pause, then cheering from tents in the parking lot of Town Center as the polls closed at 7 p.m.
On Saturday, the Coppell ISD Board of Trustees election resulted in the reelection of Place 1 trustee Leigh Walker and Place 3 trustee Anthony Hill. The new Place 2 trustee will be Jonathan Powers.
“I am ecstatic and grateful to my team and my supporters, and I feel relieved and excited to tackle this next term,” Walker said. “We’ve got a lot of things that we need to face head on and I’m excited to be able to do that.”
Walker won by 2,511 against candidate Sheri Hill, which she attributes to her supporters’ turnout at the polls.
“People were engaged and informed and showed up to vote,” Walker said. “When you have a small election like this, voter turnout decides it, and the voters turned out.”
Powers won by 1,191 votes against candidate Julie Waters. He will replace trustee Manish Sethi.
“My team put in a ton of hard work and to see that work pay off is really gratifying,” Powers said.
Going forward, Coppell resident Courtney Newton wishes to see the board continue its current policies and listen to the community.
“What I want to see is engagement, and what I have seen so far, which is rigorous discussions, collegial interactions, ability to problem solve and the ability to work in a group,” Newton said.
Governor Gregg Abbot also signed school vouchers into law on Saturday, which could impact funding for Coppell ISD.
Nishan Sivathasan, 1998 Coppell High School graduate and Coppell resident, thinks the district should focus on offering a quality experience to retain students and continue to offer a high quality education in a world with vouchers.
“Don’t be distracted by the noise, be focused on the kids and education.” Sivathasan said.”Making every kid feel like a person not a number is the most important thing.”
Going forward, Sivathasan hopes to see CISD continue to offer various programs, have a sense of togetherness and hold the ability to adapt to changes.
“The most important thing for me is a great education for all three of my kids, but also a loving community, tons of opportunities for them and support,” Sivathasan said. “We’re going to go through a period of change here over the next few years and I want folks that see things for the long term.”
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