As we have weathered our first major rainfall in quite some time, your focus may not be on politics, but hopefully you find some time to not forget that the Republican Party has a Primary Run-off scheduled for May 28th.
That's right…not every race was decided on March 5th when we went to the polls to select our GOP candidates for the General Election in November. One race went undecided where no candidate received a clear majority of 50% plus one. Our State Board of Education District 10 race is still to be decided between the two remaining candidates, the incumbent, Tom Maynard, and the challenger, Dr. Mary Bone.
Now, before you say, 'Who cares about the SBOE?', let's look at how the SBOE impacts you, and, most importantly, your child's education. The State Board of Education sets policies and standards for Texas public schools. Some of the primary responsibilities of the SBOE include: 1.) Setting curriculum standards, 2.) Reviewing and adopting instructional materials, 3.) Establishing graduation requirements, and 4.) Providing final review of rules proposed by the State Board for Educator Certification.
This means that whoever we elect to be our District 10 SBOE representative will have direct involvement in what your child learns, the materials they learn it from, and who is certified to teach it to them!
This is an extremely important race that can impact your family for years to come. Let's look at the candidates.
Tom Maynard has been on the SBOE since first being elected in 2016. Maynard has been active in education as a parent, teacher, school board trustee and non-profit executive for more than 30 years. Maynard worked for 13 years as an agricultural science teacher. He served for 17 years as executive director of the Texas FFA Association, and he was named the nation's outstanding state FFA executive in 2016 by the National Association of Supervisors of Agricultural Education. The product of a broken home, Maynard grew up at Cal Farley's Boys Ranch and worked his way through Texas Tech University to earn a degree and teacher certification. As a member of the SBOE, Maynard has served as chair of the Committee on Instruction and is currently chair of the Permanent School Fund Corporation Board of Directors and the Committee on School Finance/Permanent School Fund.
Dr. Mary Bone has been serving as Trustee on the Round Rock ISD School Board (Place 2) since 2020. Before serving on the School Board, Bone was the 2019 Volunteer of the Year at Ridgeview Middle School, where she was also the PTA President. She is a graduate of Leadership Round Rock ISD and was a Unit Leader for theAmerican Heritage Girls. Bone is an invited member of the prestigious Academy of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineers at Missouri University of Science and Technology, consults for NASA and teaches at the University of Southeastern Norway. She has an undergraduate degree in Aerospace Engineering from Missouri University of Science and Technology; a Master's degree in Engineering Systems from Iowa State University and a PhD in Systems Engineering from Stevens Institute of Technology.
Early voting at the Courthouse begins on Monday, May 20th, and ends on Friday, May 24th. There is no early voting over the Memorial Day weekend. The Primary Run-off Election Day is Tuesday, May 28th, and there will be only one polling location for the entire county. I encourage all Republican voters to take advantage of Early Voting if you can.