Trustees Begin Work to Refine TASB’s Advocacy Priorities 

More than 60 trustees met for the first Legislative Advisory Council (LAC) meeting of the 2026-28 biennium where key issues, including school safety, special education, streamlining of mandates and rules, and investment in student-facing programs and services, were identified. 

“We are all in agreement that these are the priorities,” said Pflugerville ISD Trustee Jean Mayer. “But we need to understand, as far as strategy, the appetite of the Legislature.” 

The meeting, held April 18 at TASB headquarters, represented the next step in the creation of TASB’s Advocacy Agenda, which will be presented to members for a vote at Delegate Assembly Oct. 9 during txEDCON in Houston. TASB’s LAC representatives, who were elected by their regions, spent the day reviewing the list of topics identified at the regional Grassroots Meetings held earlier this year to find common themes and identify a preliminary list of statewide priorities.  

Daniella Lopez-Valdez, board president of Brownsville ISD, advised that those priorities need to be focused on the end result. “We need to look at how many students are affected rather than how many dollars,” she said. 

Over a working lunch, the trustees were divided into work groups where they developed priority statements for each of the statewide priorities that emerged.  

Katherine Sells, vice-president on the Lewisville ISD board, reminded her colleagues: “These all have equal weight. There isn’t a ranking to them. Keep an open mind, and write the priorities as if we are talking to all legislators.” 

For Steven Moore, an Aldine ISD trustee, “The job of education is to create productive adults who can keep this country going. We have to link what we want with a vision for what we can do for the future of our state and country.” 

The LAC then reviewed the statements developed by the work groups and discussed next steps to refine the messaging before the group’s next meeting June 11 in San Antonio during TASB’s first Summer Leadership Institute.  

Harvey Oaxaca, board vice-president of McKinney ISD, expressed his appreciation for serving on the LAC and the importance of gathering for conversations about what’s important for students and public education in Texas. 

“There is power in this room,” he said. “Years ago, I heard this quote and it stuck with me: ‘The opportunity of a lifetime is only good for the lifetime of the opportunity.’ As school board members, we continue to have power by just being involved.” 

Ruben Trevino, Los Fresnos CISD board member, stressed that trustees must remain vigilant and focused. “We must continue our service and what we have been elected to do, which is to ensure our children are receiving a great public education,” he said. 

The final draft priorities will be forwarded to the TASB Board of Directors for review in July. The Board will then make its recommendation for October’s  Delegate Assembly. Texas school boards are able to appoint one delegate and one alternate to attend TASB’s annual meeting, where they will amend and approve the 2026-28 Advocacy Agenda. 

Learn more about the Delegate Assembly and how your board can participate.