Changes are coming to Abilene ISD with a new superintendent and four seats on the AISD board on the ballot for May’s election. The candidates are keeping their messages positive in the campaign.
Place 2 incumbent Rodney Goodman, Place 7 incumbent Angie Wiley, and Place 3 candidate Blair Schroeder are all running unopposed. But three candidates are competing for the Place One seat. Incumbent Derek Hood is facing challenges from Dr. Taylor Tidmore and Aileen Bunting.
The school board candidates have described aims of increasing parent representation on the AISD board, addressing low test scores and teacher morale.
Paul Fabrizio, professor of Political Science at McMurry University, praises the candidates for keeping the discussion positive. But he says voters don’t pay as close attention when politics are civil, “They're talking about issues like recruiting and retaining teachers and making sure parents are involved, but they're not attacking each other. And it's an unfortunate reality of politics that positive campaigns generally don't get the attention of voters. And if you don't get the attention, voters are not going to participate, or they're not going to know who to vote for.”
But Fabrizio says these elections are important for the community and voters should do their best to be informed and to vote.
Early voting begins on April 22. Election day will be May 4.