3 takeaways for voters from Thursday’s Denton ISD candidate forum

Business owner Charlie Stinson and retired Texas Woman's University Professor Terry Senne join pediatric nurse and PTA member Lori Tays in the race for place 6. Jim Alexander, the incumbent, will not seek re-election. 

Business owner Carolyn Rachaner hopes to unseat incumbent Patsy Sosa-Sanchez, a career educator, from place 7. 

Some takeaways from the League of Women Voters forum for Denton school board candidates: 

1. Most candidates oppose school vouchers. Senne was the lone candidate who supported vouchers. Senne said using public education funds for alternative education programs could nudge school districts to improve their academic performance and accountability. She said education savings accounts would empower parents to direct their kids’ schooling.

2. Most candidates oppose the proposal that would bring a PediPlace clinic to a Denton ISD campus. Stinson, Rachaner and Senne oppose such a partnership, citing concerns for student privacy and co-mingling money between public education and health care. Sosa-Sanchez and Tays support the proposed partnership, citing the large number of students without health insurance who suffer more absenteeism when they can't access medical care. Tays highlighted her understanding of HIPAA privacy regulations as a plus for her campaign. 

3. Only two candidates have misgivings about the Denton ISD 2023 bond election. Stinson, Sosa-Sanchez and Tays championed the $1.4 billion bond election, the biggest bond package Denton ISD has proposed and one of the largest on North Texas ballots this election season. Stinson was on the committee that recommended the bond election. Senne said the district should have presented the bond package in each of the 18 municipalities of the district. Rachaner said she would comb through the bond propositions if they pass, and would support negotiations to reduce spending on proposals that voters approve.