Waco ISD at-large Trustee Keith Guillory believes tough, challenging decisions are ahead for the school board.
He foresees painful budget-cutting decisions, the start of district-run transportation and the return of Transformation Waco schools to district operation, decisions for which experience is important.
His challenger in the May 4 school board election, Lauren Caldwell, says the human dimension of education shouldn’t be overlooked, from providing emotional support for both teachers and students to tapping a willing community for resources that will help the district curb expenses.
The two are running for the Place 6 at-large seat in Waco Independent School District’s only contested race, with early voting beginning Monday.
Trustees Stephanie Korteweg and Jeremy Davis are unopposed in their reelection bids.
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Caldwell, 31, a worship director at Mercy Culture Waco church and a mother of four home-schooled children, sees herself as a bridge-builder who would speak for teachers who feel constrained in their classrooms when it comes to student discipline, curriculum and safety.
“I think the school board’s job is to help them (teachers) feel supported and give them independence in the classroom,” said Caldwell, a New Jersey native.
Caldwell said she has not only talked with friends who teach at Waco High, but with local school administrators. She would make a point of setting up monthly meetings of teachers and board members to share issues.
Schools also need to pay more attention to students’ emotions and how to help them regulate them, which would pay off in better school discipline and academic performance, she said.
“Students are eight hours in our care,” she said. “Unfortunately, that’s more than some parents. It shouldn’t be taken lightly.”
Caldwell has worked toward a degree in family studies at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, for more than four years. She pointed to her experience with Leonard Middle School in Fort Worth, where she said volunteer mentors and community involvement helped turn around an underperforming school.
“I have a blueprint for how that was done,” she said.
Caldwell, her husband Darre’el and three of their children moved to Waco from Fort Worth two years ago as Mercy Culture Fort Worth church planted a Mercy Culture church in Waco, now at 1020 E. Waco Drive.
Their youngest child and second son was born four months ago, and their oldest is 7.
Caldwell acknowledges that some may question why someone running for a public school position would not have their children in those schools. She said that for her and her husband it’s a matter of setting values at an early age.
“You want them to know who they are before you put them in school,” she said. “We want them aware they’re sons and daughters of the King.”
Caldwell said she expects her children to enroll in Waco ISD around the time they turn 10.
“We plan to be in Waco a long time,” she said.
Guillory, 45, a Waco Fire Department lieutenant, is seeking his second three-year term as a trustee.
Guillory said he wants to continue the work he feels the board has accomplished during that time, a period that has seen post-pandemic recovery efforts, construction of new schools, improvements in school security and increases in student literacy.
Challenges are ahead. A looming budget deficit caused in part by the end of federal pandemic relief money as well as inflation and stagnant state funding will mean hard choices on what the district continues.
A new district-run transportation system this fall will mean changes in daily routines for many families and will require the board to be “sensitive to our family needs and the safety of our kids,” he said.
Next year also will see the transition of four Transformation Waco schools back to district operation after six years of working under a different charter arrangement.
Guillory intends to continue his focus on improving student literacy, expanding job preparation and career training options.
“A lot of students have the grades, but can’t leave their families to go to college,” he said.
School security is another concern. After considerable state and local investments in security fencing, controlled access and prohibited items detectors last year, Waco ISD can take a closer look at student discipline on specific campuses, Guillory said.
Caldwell believes more could be done to use community volunteers and support to defray budget costs. She cited her experience in grant writing and mobilizing “those who have money, but don’t know what to do with it.”
She also said schools should not be afraid to look to churches for help, whether in program support or volunteers.
“I believe the separation of church and state was to keep the state out of the church and not the church out of the state,” she said.
The candidates differ on the subject of educational vouchers, a top priority of Gov. Greg Abbott that led to multiple special legislative sessions and foiled proposed increases in the state’s public education funding.
Caldwell said the issue will depend on leadership and how it’s implemented. Guillory fears state funding of private schools would only accelerate the financial bind many public school districts already feel.
Both feel schools need to make sure educational materials available to students are age-appropriate, with screening preferable to pulling books off the shelf. Concern over books dealing with sexuality and race led groups across the state last year to call for removal of books they felt questionable.
“It’s not an issue in the WISD,” Guillory said. “We have age-appropriate books, although we most certainly have to have screening” to ensure appropriateness, he said.
Caldwell said she had encountered online pornography as a child and it deeply affected her.
“I’m not saying we don’t let students explore and learn, but we need to clarify what age-appropriate should be,” she said. “We need to be aware these things open up doors that can’t be shut.”
In addition to her work with Mercy Culture Waco, Caldwell is preparing to volunteer with CareNet Pregnancy Center of Central Texas and works with For Liberty and Justice McLennan County, an affiliate of the statewide For Liberty and Justice, whose mission statement calls for “righteous reformation statewide.”
Guillory is involved in youth mentoring, career training and literacy support in Waco ISD. He and his wife Tracy formed LitWaco to encourage student reading and last weekend held their second annual CenTex Teen Book Fest on the Brazos, which brought more than two dozen youth and children’s authors to Waco.
Guillory and his wife have a daughter in the fifth grade at Hillcrest Professional Development School and three older children who are graduates of Waco High School and presently in college.
Caldwell initially filed as a candidate for the District 1 seat, but withdrew her application after Waco ISD administrators informed her that her home address was not in the district. She then refiled as a candidate in the Place 6 at-large seat.
Caldwell said she had filed as a District 1 candidate as that was the district where Mercy Culture Waco church is and several church members live, but refiled when she learned she needed to live in the district she would represent.
Early voting for the May 4 election begins Monday and continues through April 30 at five sites: the McLennan County Records Building, the Doris Miller Community Center, the West Waco Library, Robinson Community Center and Hewitt City Hall/Library.
UPDATE: The original version of this story has been updated to correct information about Caldwell's educational background and volunteer work.