Mother of 3 boys files for Abilene ISD board, citing parental say in decisions
A King replaced a Rose on Thursday afternoon outside the Abilene ISD administration building downtown.
A filing announcement by Gary Rose for school board was anticipated, but it was Reini King who filed instead, taking on incumbent Cindy Earles for Place 4.
Earles, who is the board vice president, was elected in 2014. She already had filed.
According to an email sent to local media, Rose was to announce for Place 6 against incumbent Billy Enriquez.
"From what I understand, he dropped out," King said.
Another candidate for Place 6 would announce Friday, King and her supporters told the Reporter-News.
How is King aware of other candidates' plans?
"There are some of us who have the same belief systems, and we feel like there needs to be some changes," she said. "We've gotten together and had some discussions. We were all making sure we weren't doubling up on each other."
King on the ballot
King arrived at the administration building at 4:25 p.m., five minutes before the expected Rose announcement. She went inside, filed and returned to cheers by supporters outside.
"I'm officially running for school board," she said, smiling. "It's time for parents to get a say."
King is a 1999 graduate of Cooper High School and is married to Ryan King, a 1997 graduate of Abilene High, she said, laughing.
"We have our bases covered," she said.
She graduated in 2003 from Texas Tech with a degree in marketing and public relations. She has been a pharmaceutical sales representative for the past 10 years, she said.
The King family resides in south Abilene.
King is the mother of three boys, two who attend Austin Elementary as first- and third-graders, she said. Another boy, who is in pre-kindergarten, will join them in school next year.
She said the district is not living up to parents' expectations.
"A lot of things have gone on, especially the past couple of years. With the environments constantly changing, a lot of the core value things have gotten away from parents," she said. "The interesting thing is that it took a shutdown to open our eyes to things that are going on.
"I've had the opportunity to talk to a lot of teachers and parents ... we love Abilene, my husband and I, and we plan on being here. We also know a lot of people are moving away from Abilene and a lot of it has to do with the school district and some of the things that are going on here.
"We want to keep Abilene great and keep the people here and keep them from moving into what it used to be, and the school district liked it used to be."
Allocate resources better
King pointed specifically to bullying issues in the district and "security in general. Staff retention, including teachers and janitors and things like that."
She said AISD was "top heavy" with administration.
"A lot of chiefs and not very many Indians," she said.
Coincidentally, the current school board was about to start meeting inside to discuss renewing Superintendent David Young's salary.
"So, some things I feel need to be addressed. Put the resources where they need to be, with the teachers and the kids, and maybe not on Pine Street," she said.
As for closing schools at times during the pandemic, King said, "I think the schools definitely should've been open. I think that masks and vaccines are at the parents' discretion. Obviously, we've seen masks haven't made a huge difference in the spread of COVID. You can look up any scientific fact you want. It's not really there to support it."
King said it now is the parents' turn to "make decisions" for their children.
"They're our kids," she said.
Races for other places
Until Thursday, only Earles and Enriquez had filed.
Enriquez is the current assistant secretary. He was appointed to the board in January 2017, then elected to office in 2018.
No one has filed for Place 5, including current board member Dr. Danny Wheat. He has served since being elected in 2002.
It is believed that he will run again.
Three places on the board are up for election this year, with the other four to be elected in 2024. Board terms are four years.
The deadline to file for the current election is Feb. 18.
AISD board positions will be elected May 7 during the city election. Early voting is April 25-May 3.
Greg Jaklewicz is editor of the Abilene Reporter-News and general columnist. If you appreciate locally driven news, you can support local journalists with a digital subscription to ReporterNews.com.
This article originally appeared on Abilene Reporter-News: Mom of 3 files for Abilene ISD board, citing parental say in decisions
