Katy ISD’s newly elected board members Cicely Taylor, Jim Davidson and Nathan Shipley took the oath of office and were officially sworn in as members of the Board of Trustees for Positions 3, 4 and 5, respectively, at the May regular board meeting on May 11. Taylor became the first African American woman elected as a KISD trustee.

After the board election, trustees elected new officers with Lance Redmon elected as president, Dawn Champagne as vice president and James Cross as secretary.

With a lifelong passion for education, Taylor brings years of experience in education administration through her work with Acelero, Inc. She earned her B.A. from Colby College and an M.Ed. from the University of Texas at El Paso. Her connection to Katy ISD runs deep. She has served on the Campus Advisory Team, mentored through KEYs and participated in Leadership Katy as part of the Class of 2025–2026.

Davidson brings extensive leadership experience from his career as a partner at the global consulting firm ERM, where he held operational and commercial leadership roles. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Bioenvironmental Sciences from Texas A&M University and has completed postgraduate studies at the University of Houston.

Shipley works as a consultant and executive director at Circana. He earned a Bachelor of Business Administration with a marketing focus from the University of Houston and is a Katy ISD graduate, having attended Katy High School, McDonald Junior High and Winborn Elementary. To learn more about each board member and read their bios, visit the district’s “meet the board members: webpage at https://www.katyisd.org/board/board/board-members.

The board also heard an update on new state requirements for school bus safety, which include the installation of three-point restraint seat belts in compliance with Senate Bill 546, presented by Executive Director of Transportation Paul Landis.

The state is asking districts to evaluate their current fleet specifically identifying how many busesare equipped with three-point seat belts and the cost to retrofit those that are not, Landis said. The district currently operates or contracts a total of 840 buses, and of those, 288 buses are equipped with three-point seat belts while 552 are not. Landis said that the estimated cost to retrofit the remaining buses is approximately $15.27 million dollars. The state did not provide additional funding for the mandate, he said.

Katy ISD’s compliance school bus seat belt compliance report comes at a time when TxDOT is emphasizing seat belt safety.

“Buckling up is the single most effective way to prevent serious injury or worse in a crash,” said a spokesperson for the TxDOT Houston District in a May 14 press release. TxDOT is also partnering with law enforcement agencies for a special statewide enforcement period. From May 18 through May 31, officers will focus on ticketing drivers and passengers who fail to buckle up or properly secure their children in car seats.

The next meetings of the Katy ISD board of trustees will be:

· Work study meeting on June 15

· Regular board meeting on June 22