With yard signs advertising candidates placed in front yards, outside polling stations, and along the side of the road, it’s clear that it is that time of year again: voting season. This November, Jenn Griffith, a 15 year volunteer for RRISD, and Danielle Weston, a retired Air Force veteran, are candidates for the Place 7 position on the RRISD board of trustees. The position is currently occupied by Mason Moses, who is retiring to spend time with family and recover from a back injury.

As someone who is an active member of the community, Ms. Griffith believes that this gives her the experience needed for the position. Ms. Griffith has volunteered in many district programs such as the RRISD Council of PTAs and the St. David’s Round Rock board of trustees for over 15 years. In the last three years, she has logged 550 volunteer hours towards the district.

“I started serving in the PTA when our daughter was in kindergarten and have served in many executive level positions since then,” Ms. Griffith said. “I have been President, Vice President, Fundraising, Spirit Wear, and Parliamentarian. I have served on 13 carnival committees, scholarship committees, All A’s committee, and more over the years. I love working with the PTA the most because it brings all kinds of moms and dads together to work side by side for their schools. You don’t have to run in the same circles, be of the same political party or even have kids the same age, but you are all working together to make the campus better for your kids and their teachers.” 

Ms. Griffith’s top priority is to provide students with everything they need to help cultivate critical thinking. She believes that school is a crucial time in a child’s life, because this time prepares them for the “real world.” Ms. Griffith wants to focus on students’ emotional well-being and safety, financial responsibility for organizations on campus, and teacher empowerment.

“Student success is always priority number one for me,” Ms. Griffith said. “While the school board does not engage in the day to day activities of the district, it is imperative that they set challenging goals for the administration. Achieving those goals is where our administration can be more creative in the ways they support our teachers. Students are more than just the grade of a standardized test and we need to get away from setting goals that only reflect that.” 

A big issue Ms. Griffith hopes to fix is division within the school board. She believes that having students at the center of every decision is imperative to the district’s success, rather than board members disputing over issues that the student body dismisses. She proclaims that student success should be prioritized and she is committed to ensuring that all students have the chance to learn and succeed. 

“The school board should always strive for unity, and to do that they need to put any personal differences aside and work together to ensure outcomes that will best serve our students,” Ms. Griffith said. “We have some amazing students who are going above and beyond to create groups and programs and have great ideas that could benefit our district. There will need to be some kind of process in place to help decide who gets to speak, but I would welcome a discussion on how to make sure that happens for sure. [Students] are the future and [they] should never feel that what [they] have to say is not important.”

Another issue Ms. Griffith hopes to bring attention to is the well-being and safety of students. COVID-19 has brought many hardships to students, including learning, employment, and food. Ms. Griffith says that it’s crucial for students to be careful on what they post or comment on social media. The internet is forever, and one post can change a person’s life. Writing something mean or disrespectful on the internet can harm someone’s mental health and lead to the unexpected.

“Not many stop to think how they may be impacting someone’s life. One person can be the driving force behind a teen falling into depression or even contemplating suicide, all because they don’t stop and think or reach out for the truth before making that post,” Ms. Griffith said. “We need to make sure that our students have the necessary people and programs to reach out to if they feel they need to talk to someone. Especially now with COVID-19, not as many kids can be around friends in person so they are at home online and feeling more isolated than ever. We need to make sure that our students feel safe and secure in the place that they go each day and as trustees we need to help set goals for our district that help to provide any outreach programs we need to be there for our students.”

Ms. Griffith’s opponent, Ms. Weston, has many different goals in comparison to Ms. Griffith. Ms. Weston’s top priority is to successfully recover from COVID-19’s impact on learning and redressing vocational training for special education programs. Like Ms. Griffith, Ms. Weston has volunteered within the district in programs such as the PTA and booster clubs, and student mentoring. She plans to continue advocating for student health and believes that the future relies on not just board members, but also parents, teachers, and administration working together to oversee important issues.

Early voting started on Tuesday, Oct. 13, and will end on Tuesday, Nov. 3. To learn more about Ms. Griffith, visit her website and Facebook page. For more information on how to register and polling locations, visit this link.