Three candidates seek two Eanes school board seats

Three candidates are seeking two Eanes school board seats being vacated by incumbents Christie Bybee and Jason Paull. Bybee was first elected 2014 and Paull was elected in 2017.

Attorney Kim McMath, 56, and entrepreneur John Troy, 39, are vying for Place 1.

Laura Clark, 52, a preschool teacher, filed for Place 2. She now is unopposed after Catherine Walker on Friday withdrew her application for candidacy.

Trustee John Havenstrite, who holds Place 3 and was elected in 2017, also is unopposed for a second term.

Board members are responsible for hiring and evaluating the superintendent and annually approve of the district’s budget and tax rate. Those who are elected will help navigate the district as it faces a potential budget shortfall and possible staff cuts, as well carries out the remaining 2019 bond election projects.

McMath has served as a volunteer in Eanes district in a number of capacities, including on its bond oversight committee, bond advisory committee as a homeroom parent and as an elementary school representative for the district’s School Safety and Health Advisory Council. She has said she wants to invest in students and teachers, providing them resources and support. She also says she will prioritize responsible decisions for the district’s school finance.

Troy, who is being endorsed by the departing Bybee, says he has eight years of nonprofit board experiencing, including serving on the board of Wayside Schools, a charter operator. While his own child of school age goes to school in the district, Troy has said he is a believer of school choice and believes charter schools provide such choice to parents. The son of a teacher, Troy has said he is an avid supporter of the district’s Spanish immersion program. Troy is the only parent of an elementary school-aged student who is running for election and said the board needs such a school parent’s voice since six of the nine district schools are elementaries.