Lisa Alpe, John Perez and Caroline H. Bennett swept the Spring Branch Independent School District Board of Trustees elections tonight after a year of contentious school board meetings, federal lawsuit filings and debates over sexual content in primary and secondary school libraries. Trustee Positions 5, 6 and 7 were up for grabs.
Alpe, Perez and Bennett ran on the premise the current board had become too dependent on education consultants and attorneys that steered the board toward decisions that were out-of-touch with the SBISD community, including the controversial decision to consider changing SBISD from an At-Large representation to Single Member Districts and then the infuriating move to try delay today’s election pending resolution of that federal lawsuit by last year’s losing candidate.
Alpe, Perez and Bennett also emphasized that there are indeed real instances of political ideology in teaching exercises and an influence of over-sexualized content in student reading material, despite Board claims to the contrary. Alpe, Perez and Bennett all have children currently in SBISD schools.
In a turnout that shattered last year’s record, voters sent a very clear message they agreed. Voters sent victories to each candidate with Alpe at 9,015 votes, Perez at 8,744 and Bennett at 8,705.
Alpe, Perez and Bennett will be sworn in on May 17 and serve three-year terms.
Alpe is an attorney who spent 11 years as a prosecutor for Harris County before opening her private law practice. She is bilingual. Alpe has volunteered as a coach for Spring Branch Memorial Sports Association.
Perez grew up the son of a migrant worker in Carrizo Springs. He went on to earn an MBA from Rice and open Cognascents Consulting Group. He is the first Hispanic and minority in the district’s 75-year history to be elected to the Board of Trustees.
Bennett taught in Spring Branch ISD for 16 years before moving to a career in sports management and has accumulated over 30 years of volunteer work. She was nominated for SBISD Teacher of the Year multiple times.
The trio were supported by a grassroots group of over 1000 families in the SBISD community called PIPEline (Parents for Improved Public Education) and endorsed by State Senator Paul Bettencourt, State Board of Education Member Will Hickman, Republican Party of Texas Chairman Matt Rinaldi, Harris County Commissioners Tom Ramsey and Jack Cagle, Harris County Republican Party, Houston City Council Member Michael Kubosh and Mary Nan Huffman, Spring Branch Republicans, Spring Branch Families PAC, Hedwig Village Mayor Tom Jinks, Spring Valley Village Mayor Marcus Vajdos, Hunters Creek Mayor Jim Pappas and hundreds more.