Seven of the eight candidates seeking positions on the Katy ISD Board of Trustees discussed their qualifications, and priorities if elected, in a candidate forum hosted by the Katy Area Chamber of Commerce.

The forum was held April 13 at the Performing Arts Center at Cinco Ranch High School, 23440 Cinco Ranch Blvd. Robert Long III and Justin Burdine moderated the forum. Long is director for school board development services at the Texas Association of School Boards. Burdine is a former Fort Bend ISD trustee.

The three races are unusual this year in that they feature no incumbents. Position 3 Trustee Ashley Vann, Position 4 Trustee Leah Wilson and Position 5 Trustee Greg Schulte all chose not to seek re-election.

Three candidates are seeking the position 3 seat. They are Bruce Bradford, a mortgage loan originator; Shawn Miller, a college professor, and Amy Thieme, a realtor. Miller was the lone candidate absent. He said his school was having a teacher appreciation event he was helping to host.

Three candidates are seeking the position 4 seat. They are Erica Brettell, a stay-at-home mom; Morgan Calhoun, a stay-at-home mom, and Cicely Taylor, an education administrator.

Two candidates are seeking the position 5 seat. They are Mary Ellen Cuzela, a Katy ISD substitute teacher, and Shana Peterson, who is retired.

Peterson said top priority if elected would be retaining and recruiting teachers and support staff. To make that happen, she said, she would encourage the district to start its recruiting and hiring process earlier and develop relationships with colleges and universities that train teachers. She said she would work to ensure that teacher compensation packages are comparable to those in other districts.

Cuzela said the teachers she has spoken with have cited student discipline as a top priority, and it would be her priority if elected. Working to ensure classroom size limits, which would help attract and retain teachers, would help with this, she said.

Taylor said her priority would be working to improve student outcomes. She said she wanted to help eliminate distractions from learning, thereby helping Katy ISD students to be ready for college if that was their goal. She said she wanted Katy ISD schools to be safe, joyful and learning environments.

Brettell said her priority would be students. She said she wanted to see the district continue to be excellent academically while providing a safe learning environment. She said she wanted to see the district support teachers and make sure they had what they needed to succeed, including non-traditional learning methods as needed.

Calhoun said her priorities would be safety and security. She said such safety and security did not come just from a facilities and management perspective, but from a place of physical, emotional and mental well-being. Those things, she said, are as important as physical well-being.

Bradford said his priority would be community involvement in education. He called for teachers to “return to teaching” and for attracting a strong volunteer base as part of that involvement. Having such a volunteer base, he said, would enable the teacher to return to their teaching because some of their workload will be reduced. In addition, he said, having a strong volunteer base would bring about more student victories and give those students an additional person they could trusts.

Thieme said her priority would be what she called returning to the basics. Learning reading, writing, math and science and history, she said, along with learning critical thinking skills, are essential for student success after leaving the district.

The winner needs only a plurality of votes to win the seat. Early voting begins April 24 and runs through May 2. Election Day is May 6.