Round Rock ISD candidates to participate in election forum at Kalahari Resorts

Fernanda Figueroa, Austin American-Statesman
·2 min read

Candidates for the Round Rock school district board of trustees will meet for an election forum on Oct. 25.

The forum will be held at Kalahari Resorts at 3001 Kalahari Blvd. in Round Rock from 7:30 p.m. to 10 p.m.

Community members are encouraged to submit questions for consideration at surveymonkey.com/r/RRISDBOARDFORUMQUESTIONS. The deadline to submit questions is Oct. 14.

Sixteen people have filed to run for the five seats in the Round Rock school district's board of trustees election in November.

The Place 3, 4, 5 and 6 seats will be decided in a general election as those trustees' terms are ending. The Place 1 seat will be decided in a special election following the resignation over the summer of Jun Xiao.

All five incumbents are running for reelection and will each have at least one challenger.

Amber Feller, 49, will face two opponents as she seeks reelection for her second term in Place 3. Orlando Salinas, 35, a chief financial officer at Zoom Contracting and Consulting, has filed to run for the seat. Feller also will be challenged by 20-year-old Maryam Zafar, a University of Texas student.

Cory Vessa, 44, who holds the Place 4 seat, will be challenged by Linda Avila, 53, an educational diagnostician; Jill Farris, 38, a homemaker; and Alicia Markum, 39, a stay-at-home parent.

Amy Weir, 56, who holds the Place 5 seat, will face three challengers: Stefan Bryant, a 51-year-old grants manager; and Christie Slape, a 50-year-old former teacher and professional organizer. Joshua Billingsley, a 40-year-old business intelligence analyst had filed to run but has suspended his campaign.

Tiffanie Harrison, 36, also will be seeking reelection for a second term in the Place 6 seat. Former Austin City Council Member Don Zimmerman, 62, has filed to run against her.

Four people will be running for the Place 1 seat against 47-year-old Kevin Johnson, who was appointed to the seat on July 25. Also vying for the seat are John Keagy, a 41-year-old engineer; Yuriy Semchyshyn, a 37-year-old software engineer; and Estevan Zarate, a 51-year-old teacher and actor.

The forum is the result of a partnership among the Round Rock Independent School District Council of PTAs, the Round Rock Chamber and the Austin Chamber of Commerce. It will be moderated by John Garrett, the chief executive officer of Community Impact.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Election forum for Round Rock ISD candidates to take place Oct. 25