Beilue column: WT freshman Carsen Roberts member of Claude school board

The last time I spoke with Carsen Roberts was almost exactly nine years ago. I was convinced he would one day be a congressman, governor or senator. Never mind that he was only 10 years old.

Now I would add electrical engineer. And I would certainly put down a school board member because as a freshly minted 19-year-old, Roberts has been an elected school board member for nearly a year.

Back on March 28, 2014, I wrote a column for the Amarillo Globe-News on Carsen, a fourth grader in Claude. He would soon meet former president George W. Bush at a fundraiser in Amarillo. Bush, as the former owner of the Texas Rangers, represented two of the passions in Carsen’s life – presidents and baseball.

Carsen was a presidential savant. Give him a previous year in history and he’d give you the president. He memorized obscure facts about presidents, knew their party affiliation. In the summer of 2013, in Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex with parents Jeff and Aimee and older sister Kelsee for a Rangers game, he was the family tour guide for a couple of hours when they walked the George W. Bush Library and Museum in Dallas.

“I don’t know why,” said Roberts of his unusual presidential historical passion “Playing a president in a second-grade play may have sparked my interest. Everyone has asked me about that, but I have no clue as to what led to that.

“It was to a lot of people kind of weird, and even to me it was a little weird. Here is this little fourth grader, and he likes baseball and presidents. I was a little different than most kids at that age.”

Nine years ago, Roberts’ grandfather paid for a table at the fundraiser. At a private reception, Carsen got to quickly meet the former president in what he called a “shove and go.” He got a picture taken and Bush signed his Ranger jersey with No. 43 – Bush’s presidential number.

The photo is on his bulletin board next to the story about that day. The jersey hangs in a frame in his bedroom.

That was pretty special for a 10-year-old. What Roberts is doing at 19 is pretty special too.

The summer after high school graduation from Claude in 2022 — third in a class of 16 — he was one of 10 graduating seniors who had internships under Justice Larry Doss of the Seventh Court of Appeals in Amarillo where students ran an imaginary campaign and wrote opinions off mock legal issues. Roberts also worked on the campaign of U.S. Rep. Ronny Jackson (R-Amarillo).

As a freshman electrical engineering major at West Texas A&M University, he’s taking 17 hours online. He works between 30 and 40 hours a week at a cooling tower construction business in Amarillo, and then has a lawn service in Claude where he is the one and only employee.

All of that is a pretty high bar, but that’s not what sets Roberts apart. Last May, Roberts became the youngest school board member in Texas when he was elected as a write-in candidate to the Claude Independent School District Board of Trustees.

As Roberts would know, there’s no president, from Washington to Biden, who has ever done that.

“So there were a couple of things,” Roberts said of him pursuing one of two open seats. “One was how our superintendent (Brock Cartwright) left and no one really knew why the board pushed him out. I liked him and I wanted to help ease tensions on the board from that.

“The other was being in school the past 13 years and maybe fresh knowledge that I could bring that others could not to the boardroom.”

Too young to officially file

In February 2020, Roberts, at age 17, was too young to file for the school board. With a March birthday, he would be 18 by the May 7 election. So he decided to run as a write-in candidate. A full beard makes him look older, maybe 20, 21 years old.

Roberts first had to convince more than a few this was not a joke. Then he took the unusual step in a small-town school board election of putting out 100 yard signs – “Integrity, Transparency, Commitment, Leader” – as well as a couple of large banners. He also had flyers and surprised some by knocking on doors.

“A lot of people said they had never had anyone come to their door about the school board,” he said.

Five ran for two open spots. Roberts was the leading vote-getter with 158 votes. The top three were separated by less than 20 votes.

Roberts was elected on May 7, 2022. For three odd weeks, he was not only a senior in high school, but a member of the school board. Roll that nugget around in your head. That should have at least given him instant cred with the Claude administration.

To make it a little more interesting — OK, a lot more — his mother and sister both teach third grade in Claude.

Tempting though it may be, Carsen has not used the position for some added favors around the house.

He has to be careful what school business he can divulge around them. During monthly board meetings, he has to excuse himself from any potential conflict of interest items like discussion on contracts.

In early March, he spoke to the Texas Association of School Boards convention in Galveston for a very obvious reason of the perspective of the youngest board member in the state.

“It’s been very eye-opening,” Roberts said. “There’s been a lot of things you don’t even think about until you get on the board. Things are a lot more complicated than you think they are from the outside. It’s been a huge learning experience.”

Claude ISD’s challenges are not much different than other districts. Roberts points to funding. Teachers are paid the state base, making it harder to compete with some districts.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott continues to push for vouchers, property tax money for public education that would be used for students to attend private schools. That is becoming more of a hot-button issue.

“It would severely hurt small schools and really any school district,” Roberts said. “Public education is the backbone of Texas.”

That is a battle for the Texas state legislature, a place Roberts might be one day. Studying at WT was following a family tradition. His mother, grandmother and sister all attended WT. His parents strongly encouraged him not to major in political science because if he decided not to follow into politics, then what? Jeff, his father, works at Pantex.

“I was told to get something useful and go from there,” Roberts said. “I will have options after I graduate. You can go into politics from any degree."

“My dad talks how Pantex is hiring engineers left and right. It’s nice to have options. Still, ideally, I want to go into politics and help more than just the people in Claude.”

Being the self-taught presidential historian he is, could Carsen Roberts be maybe No. 53 in 2054? Maybe a little far-fetched, but then again so is being elected to the school board at age 18.

Editor's note: This column originally appeared on the WT website.

Do you know of a student, faculty member, project, an alumnus or any other story idea for “WT: The Heart and Soul of the Texas Panhandle?” If so, email Jon Mark Beilue at jbeilue@wtamu.edu .

This article originally appeared on Amarillo Globe-News: Beilue: Once a presidential savant, now Roberts on Claude school board