By Betsy Dolan
Three newcomers are hoping to secure the Position 2 seat on the Fort Bend ISD Board of Trustees while two incumbents are facing challengers in the Municipal and School Elections which will be held on Saturday, May 12.
Postion 2
Position 2 incumbent, Sonal Bhuchar is running for District 26 state representative in the Republican primary after serving five years with FBISD. Three newcomers, Grayle James, 48; Patt Snyder, 79; and Denetta R. Williams, 45, are running for that seat which is a three year term.
Grayle James
James, a former school teacher and a partner in a farming business has lived in Sugar Land for 15 years. She has one child who has graduated from FBISD schools and two others who are still attending schools in the district. Her teaching background as well as volunteering in her childrens’ schools helped fuel her passion for getting involved.
“Education is critical to our future,” James said. “I believe in long term planning and vision and high academic achievement. I am committed to making smart, informed decisions for our schools.”
Patt Snyder
Snyder is a part-time computer science teacher at Wharton County Junior College and has more than two decades of experience in business and academics. She is calling herself the Common Sense Choice because she will work to make sure children “are educated to meet the needs for quality of life.” Snyder also vows to focus on the fundamentals and to “spend on need, not want.”
DenettaWilliams
Williams, a real estate broker, plans to focus on improving FBISD’s current “unacceptable” T.E.A. rating. She also wants to move past the discontent with the district’s iPad program and help it work.
“FBISD recently voted to implement the iAchieve program”, Williams said. “For the benefit of students, it is time to switch the debate from disagreement to insuring the success of the iPad program.”
Position 3
Marilyn Glover
Glover, 66, is running for re-election to her fourth three-year term in office. Glover is a marketing consultant who specializes in human resources. Glover wants the focus to be on getting FBISD an “exemplary” rating by the T.E.A.
“We must “think outside the box”,look at non-traditional methods of teaching that have been successful in other districts; and possibly offer incentives to attract teachers to leave high performing schools to go to low performing schools,” Glover said.
Jenny Bailey
Bailey, 50, a former retirement planning specialist and current writer, is challenging Glover. She has lived in Fort Bend County for 14 years and has children attending FBISD schools. Accountability and transparency, Bailey said, will guide her decisions if elected.
“Parents, teachers, students, taxpayers, & employees- deserve no less from their elected trustees”, Bailey said. “My priorities will be efficient use of resources, accountability, teacher input, and curriculum development.”
Position 7
The person elected to Position 7 will only serve one year, which is the remainder of the term after Jim Babb resigned last year.
Cynthia Lenton-Gary
Incumbent Cynthia Lenton-Gary, 53, was appointed by the board last August to fill the seat vacated by Babb. Lenton-Gary, an educator, has lived in Fort Bend County for 31 years and wants to focus on quality education, teacher morale and fiscal responsibility.
“I have a desire to develop strong relationships between the school district, the public it serves and the employees”, Lenton-Gary said. “I believe that when teachers receive adequate resources, they make a positive difference in student achievement.”
Dave Rosenthal
Rosenthal, 51, is a geophysicist and has lived in Missouri City for 14 years. He hopes to create an environment throughout the district that encourages teacher input and building a district where both teachers and students thrive.
“We need to reduce the debt, hold administrators accountable for out-of-control spending, and implement a longterm zoning plan to eliminate yearly rezoning,”
Rosenthal said. “I will seek teacher input and encourage an environment where teachers and students thrive.
Rodrigo Carreon
Carreon, 43, is a self-employed electrician, has lived in the county for 38 years and graduated from Dulles High School in 1987. He was a member of FBISD’s 2007 Bond Committee, attends regular school board meetings and wants to “improve rezoning that led to overcrowding in the schools” and wants to prevent the district from laying off experienced teachers.