SUGAR LAND, Texas – There’s been a shake-up within the Fort Bend Independent School District school board. Three trustees were voted out on Election Night.
Fort Bend County voters have chosen three new faces to represent them and their children on the school board. Newcomer and career educator Angie Hanan out beat incumbent Jason Burdine for the position 1 spot with 61% of the vote. Burdine received 39% of the votes.
“When incumbents lose, it exemplifies that someone wasn’t happy about what was going on,” Hanan said. “It may be that COVID had some play on that, but we can’t be sure because this was a totally different election. This was a different look of how things go. We’ve never ever had that many people vote in a school board election.”
Hamin said she’s excited to get on the board and start advocating for children.
Incumbent Kristin Tassin fell short of necessary votes to keep her trustee position 4 seat. Shirley rose Gilliam secured 52% of votes and Tassin had 48%.
Lastly, trustee position 5-elect Denetta Williams won with 40% of the vote out beating incumbent Allison Drew and hopeful Reggie Abraham.
Some parents in Sugarland said they welcome the new trustees and any fresh ideas they may have.
“I don’t necessarily think it’s a bad thing to have new people come into the district bringing new perspectives and having new ideas,” said Emma Ernst, a mother of three.
Colony Bend Elementary School parent Rachel Hancock said it takes a special person to want to run for a board of trustee position.
“I’m sure that anybody who ran for any of the positions they’re really all just trying to help the children and do the best that they can,” Hancock said.
Amanda Joyner is the PTO president for Colony Bend Elementary. Joyner said the district’s rezoning plans probably played a role in how some parents voted but she believes the incumbents took the fall for how the district handled the coronavirus.
“I don’t necessarily think it was an issue with their performance. That’s just my personal opinion,” Joyner said. “I think the school board had a lot more visibility this year than it ever has.”
She said more parents are paying more attention than ever to who’s in charge of their children’s education.
The elected board members will be sworn in on Nov. 16.