The four Board of Trustees (left to right) Ron Hansen, Thom Hulme, David Caviness, and Vara Kuppam members answer questions during Thursday night’s CISD PTSO Board of Trustees candidates forum. The forum was held in the lecture hall at Coppell High School, and allowed the community to ask their questions as well.
Coppell ISD PTSO Board of Trustees candidate forum held at CHS
Coppell High School senior Nicole Rewerts sat in a crowd of mostly adults with a notepad in her lap. Before her, four Board of Trustees candidates answered questions during the Coppell ISD PTSO Board Forum Thursday night, helping to inform her decision in the first ever election where she is eligible to vote.
“I wasn’t 18 for the Presidential election, so this is my first election that I’m going to get to vote in,” Rewerts said. “I figured I should be an informed voter and actually exercise my right to vote in the correct way.”
The forum was moderated by Parent-Teacher-Student Organization President Lisa Johnson, and brought Place 4 candidates – Ron Hansen and incumbent Thom Hulme – as well as Place 5 candidates – David Caviness and Vara Kuppam – into the CHS Lecture Hall.
Questions were sent in by PTSO parents and finalized by the PTSO presidents.
“It’s one thing to read, but that can be so skewed with hearing what your friend thinks or what somebody thinks they meant when they read it,” Johnson said. “But hearing [the Board candidates] speak and say their thoughts out loud, and I’m here and I hear it, is a lot more impactful and allows me to understand what they really are intending to mean.”
Following the success of last year’s forum, Johnson began to organize the event at last month’s Board meeting, and was able to get every candidate’s participation.
“I thought it went really well, I thought it was very enlightening myself, I learned some new things about the candidates and I feel much more prepared to vote,” Johnson said.
The forum ran for only an hour in a half, yet informed community members in the room and, with help from KCBY-TV, on live stream through Facebook live.
“I definitely think more students should come out, I think it’s important to be an informed voter,” Rewerts said. “If you’re just voting without knowing what you’re voting for, then there’d really no point in voting. You really need to be informed about what you’re voting for, so you can exercise that successfully.”
Closing statements made by the Board as well as a few audience questions can be viewed here.
