Newly-elected Cy-Fair ISD board members could bring major changes to district policy

CYPRESS, Texas (KTRK) — Big changes could soon be coming to CyFair.

The school district’s board president and vice president lost their seats as three political newcomers were elected.

Political experts say the new board members could mark a major political shift for the board, which decides policies for the district’s 117,000 students.

CyFair ISD is the third-largest school district in Texas.

Over the past two years, CyFair ISD’s board has approved book bans, Bible-based curriculum, and a controversial gender identity policy that notifies families if students ask to use different names or pronouns at school.

This board even voted to exclude topics like global warming, diversity, and vaccines from textbooks.

Former superintendent, now University of Houston professor, Duncan Klussmann, said this election shows a break in the conservative majority that has been in place since 2023.

“I’m surprised by how successful the effort was to elect a slate that’s different than the current board,” Klussmann said. “That was surprising. It was really across the board in all three positions.”

Lesley Guilmart, Kendra Camarena, and Cleveland Lane Jr. each won their races, with Lane’s win unseating both board vice president Natalie Blasingame and President Scott Henry, who ran against each other.

While school board races in Texas are technically non-partisan, Guilmart, Camarena, and Lane campaigned together to oppose current policies.

A leader of the political action committee CyFair Voices, which donated to all three candidates, said on Wednesday that her group would continue to fund similar campaigns.

“The community that really wanted change really worked hard,” Klussmann said. “And then on the individuals who were in place, there was infighting, which is always going to be a detriment to a successful campaign.”

Three other candidates who were endorsed by the Republican Party also campaigned together.

If board members stick to voting in the blocks they campaigned on, this election changes CyFair’s board from a 6-1 conservative majority to a 4-3 liberal majority.

But, there’s a bigger question here.

Does this election, on an off-year with low turnout, represent a political change?

Klussman says maybe, maybe not.

“You just want people to focus on what’s important to the system,” he said. “I think that’s what’s so critical, so teachers can do the great job they are doing, and leaders can do the great job. All that noise just doesn’t need to be there by the group that’s supposed to be leading the district.”

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