Abilene ISD school board incumbent Derek Hood runs for re-election

Voters will have the opportunity to elect Abilene-area citizens to represent them in seats across the county at the spring 2024 election. On the Abilene ISD school board, four seats are open for election.

Derek Hood, incumbent for Place 1 on the board, filed for re-election for the four-year term position.

Raised in a family of educators

Although born in Corpus Christi, Hood attended AISD schools starting in second grade after his family moved to the area for work.

He grew up in a double-parent-teacher household. His father worked as a teacher and coach mainly at the college level, and his mother worked at AISD’s Head Start Program. He graduated from Abilene High School in 1986 and was active in yearbook and sports.

His experiences in AISD drove him to pursue education as a career graduating from Abilene Christian University in 1991 with a Bachelor of Science in secondary education.

Hood worked as a public educator and track and field coach in several high school and college-level schools. He coached track and field and cross country at Bethany College from 1999-2000 and ACU from 2005-2008. During his tenure at ACU, he was awarded the 2007 National Coach of the Year and led the men’s cross country team to back-to-back NCAA Division II national championships.

The incumbent is currently employed as Director of Land Services for NextEra Energy Resources where he manages land acquisition east of the Mississippi River for development of renewable energy centers.

An underlying motivation to create great experiences

Hood stated his motivation while serving on the board and his reason for running for reelection stems from his experiences in AISD schools.

“I had a great experience there, and it’s because of that great experience and everything that’s been the underlying motivation for me serving on the board, and just wanting to make sure that everyone else who goes through AISD can have such a positive experience like I had,” he said.

During his first term, Hood’s strengths in judgement and problem solving helped him handle the challenges of COVID to adjust and keep the school district functioning.

He said his first four years were for learning and now he wants to use his knowledge to accomplish goals and better serve the district.

Marketing Abilene ISD

Hood said his priorities for his second term include improvement to communication throughout the district and to the community and hiring a new superintendent.

He hopes to build better communication going up the chain and increasing teacher morale by ensuring they feel heard and respected.

The incumbent said he wants to do a better job of marketing AISD and its programs.

“We have such a great faculty, staff, administration and the buildings and programs that we have are just second to none in the Big Country. We need to do a better job of marketing the career paths we have that gives Abilene ISD students such an advantage over the other surrounding districts in preparing them for a job, college or trade school. You name it, there’s a pathway that’s going to set them up for success with our school district that others can’t provide,” Hood said.

Feel free to share

When it comes to serving the district, Hood said he takes listening to community concerns and feedback very seriously.

“I think someone in this position needs to be able to listen to different input and be able to take that and move forward with it in a constructive manner,” he said. “I feel that I’m a person that represents a wide variety of Abilene, and I seek to represent that broad base.”

Hood welcomes the AISD community to reach out and share concerns with him so he can better serve the district.