3 candidates vie for Del Valle school board seat

Three candidates are vying for the only contested seat on the nine-member, volunteer Del Valle school board.

Two of the candidates for District 5, in the southern part of the school district, incumbent David Campos and Matt Worthington, come from different backgrounds. Worthington, originally from San Antonio, moved to the eastern Travis County district four years ago after working in public schools in the Washington, D.C., area. Campos has lifelong ties to Del Valle, having graduated from Del Valle High School in 1995. Two of his children graduated from the high school and a third is a senior there.

The third candidate, Desireé Ybarra, did not respond to several interview requests.

The fast-growing district of 11,200 students opened its ninth elementary school in August, Newton Collins Elementary.

Campos, 44, was named to the seat nearly a year ago after the previous trustee stepped down. He works as a general contractor in construction.

“I’m just so passionate about Del Valle,” Campos said. “For me, it goes beyond a position of volunteer and position of wanting to make it better. There’s a direct tie between the decisions I make and my passion and my heart because this is where I’m from, and I’ve always believed in the students of Del Valle.”

Director of analytics and insight for the United Way for Greater Austin, Worthington, 33, previously worked as a special education teacher. He graduated from Abilene Christian University in 2008 with a degree in English, and earned a master's degree in special education from George Mason University in 2011. He's pursuing a master’s degree in public affairs from the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas. Worthington’s campaign has been endorsed by the Del Valle Education Association, a teacher group.

“I’ve seen how dramatically the area has changed and is continuing to change, which is good, but there’s also challenges with that and how you manage that growth,” he said. “I want to make sure that as we’re growing, that everybody is benefiting.”

In the new state academic performance ratings, Del Valle received a D, and both Worthington and Campos said they wanted to work to improve the image of the district.

“I want to expose Del Valle for the greatness of what it is and show our students the potential that they have,” Campos said.

Worthington noted the need for programs preparing students for life after graduation from high school, as well as finding ways to pay teachers more.

“There’s a lot of work that we can do to make Del Valle a really attractive place for teachers who want to be a part of this community, and we also want to reward and support those who have been invested for a really long time,” Worthington said.

For Campos, he hopes his deep ties in the community will be remembered by voters on Election Day.

“Cardinals, through and through,” he said.

Early voting continues through Friday. Election Day is Tuesday.