There will be three new members of the Austin Independent School District’s Board of Trustees after Tuesday’s election, including incumbent Ted Gordon's challenger.
LaTisha Anderson beat Gordon for the District 1 seat, which covers most of East Austin. She won with 61 percent of the vote.
Anderson is a native Austinite and works as a caregiver for the elderly. She says her own children attend schools outside of District 1 and that there's a disparity.
“It’s about advocating and getting the other board members to see the deficits, and hopefully roll up our sleeves and get to work,” she said.
Kristin Ashy won the District 4 seat, which covers Northwest Austin. This was an open seat; current board member Julie Cowan decided to not run again. Ashy beat University of Texas student Zach Price.
Ashy is a preschool teacher and served on the district’s Facilities and Bond Planning Advisory Committee, which was charged with evaluating every school building and creating long-term plans for schools.
The third open seat was one of the at-large positions, which has been vacant since May when former board President Kendall Pace resigned. None of the three candidates running secured 50 percent of the votes, so it will go to a runoff. The leader is Carmen Tilton, who got 40 percent of the vote. Arati Singh followed with 36 percent, and Sam Russo with 23 percent.
Tilton works in education policy, currently with the Texas Health and Human Services Commission. She previously worked as an education policy advisor in the Texas Statehouse. Singh is an education consultant and served on the Austin Council of PTAs. Russo is a longtime AISD volunteer.
The runoff for the at-large position is Dec. 11.
