Published: May 14, 2008 11:13 am            

Trustees ready to make difference

Castillo, Ponce, Villalpando to be sworn in on Monday

San Marcos — The two new and one returning members of the San Marcos CISD board of trustees say they are anxious to help the district reach its potential.

David T. Castillo, Jesse Ponce and Margie Villalpando will be sworn in at the 6 p.m. school board meeting on Monday, May 19 at the SMCISD central offices on N LBJ Drive.

Castillo, who beat out incumbent Joe Castillo, is the new District 1 representative.

“I’m really humbled that the community has chosen me. I think it’s a win for the community and a win for the district,” Castillo said.

He said his priority will be to design programs to decrease dropout rates in San Marcos, as well as improve teacher and student moral.

“We’re losing teachers by the dozens. We don’t want people leaving our district. We need to grow,” he said.

Ponce, who won a place as District 3 representative when his opponents dropped out of the race early on, tended to agree with Castillo.

“When we have a high turnover rate for teachers, it affects the students. You can’t open up to somebody if you know they’re not going to be there,” Ponce said before the election.

Another issue on the top of his list is managing the budget.

“Some of the plans I have are to start saving money,” Ponce said. “If we want more money, we’re going to have to raise taxes, but that’s probably not the first thing to do.”

He said he’d like to suggest saving money through energy management.

Villalpando was re-elected to lead District 2, and said she would like to see the board’s past plans come to completion.

“The district is experiencing a lot of success. We have put a lot of things in place,” she said. “I’m excited to be able to continue to serve.”

Villalpando, who has served on the board for four years, said she looks forward to concluding the bond program, including the building of several new campuses, and beginning programs that the board has set in place for the budget.

“I want to make sure the programs that we have started will continue,” she said.

All three are eager to begin their posts.

“This is just the beginning,” Castillo said. “I’m ready to start making a difference,” Ponce said. “I hope we’ll be able to work together to better the community and the students,” Villalpando said.

Castillo won District 1 with 173 votes over Incumbent Joe Castillo’s 31 and challenger Lee “Barry” Davis at 21. Villalpando received 64 votes compared to challenger Laura Duhon’s 40. Ponce ran unopposed.

The terms for current trustees Judy Allen (at large) and Tom Brown (at large) expire in 2009, and terms for Kathy Hansen (District 4) and Peter Baen (District 5) expire in 2010.

        

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