School board candidates address district issues

The League of Women Voters of Hays County held a virtual forum for the Dripping Springs Independent School District last Wednesday, introducing the candidates for the DSISD Board of Trustees.

In DSISD, four candidates are running for two trustee openings: incumbent Joanna Day, Olivia Barnard, Thaddeus Fortenberry and Tricia Quintero. The forum on April 6 gave each candidate an opportunity to share their platform with the local community, in preparation for the election on May 7. Early voting will run from April 25 to May 3.

The forum was moderated by LWV’s co-vice president of Voter Services, Sheryl Davis.

Each candidate was given an opportunity to make a one-minute, opening statement. After that, questions were asked by the LWV, allowing a minute of response from each candidate and no opportunity for rebuttal.

Questions asked covered the roles and responsibilities of trustees, problems in schools and how to correct them, issues in the district’s academic programs and offerings, DSISD’s long-range planning, staff shortages and support, mandatory exit interviews, support for ESL and special-needs students and banning books in schools.

All candidates were given the opportunity to conclude with another minute-long statement.

A full recording of the forum is available online at lwvhaysco.com/candidateforums.

For more information on voting, visit vote411.org. For more on the League of Women Voters, visit lwvhaysco.com.