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Newcomer Dan Zielke has won the Austin Public Schools Board special election and will fill the seat left vacant by Kathy Green, who retired on Nov. 4 to spend more time with her family.

Zielke, a newcomer to office, defeated Isabella Krueger with 5,312 votes (51.28%) as opposed to Krueger’s final tally of 5,005 votes (48.32%).

“Really excited. Really grateful for all the support from the community,” Zielke said. “Most importantly, I’m excited to get started.”

Unlike the other elected board members, who will start their terms in January, Zielke’s first meeting will be on Monday, leaving him a lot to catch up on.

Green announced her retirement earlier this year with an original retirement date of Dec. 31, however, she moved it up to Nov. 4 so that the district could call Tuesday night’s special election.

“I think really the first thing is to get started meeting the people, build relationships and start to ask questions,” Zielke said. “Really observe what is happening before and really start to make my own decisions on the way I see things.”

As part of setting that framework, Zielke said he’s looking forward to working with teachers within the district.

“For me the first step is to make sure our teachers and staff have the resources and tools they need to be successful,” Zielke said. “The schools are changing constantly with new students coming in. I think we need to understand what’s missing.”

That will include getting teacher feedback and assessing those needs in the short term and by extension looking into better retainment of teachers within the district.

“How can we retain staff and teachers?” Zielke said. “We’re seeing teachers leave the district. I think we need to get an assessment on why that is.”

Zielke will now fill out the remaining two years of Green’s current time on the board.

While Krueger came up short at the ballot box, she was still bolstered by the voter response.

“As someone who is young, and just moved to Austin last year, I was not expecting to receive as much support as I did. It shows me that people in Austin are concerned about student health and well-being as it relates to LGBTQ inclusion, academic achievement gaps, and comprehensive sexuality education,” Krueger said. “These are issues that are often ignored, or addressed with surface-level, purely performative solutions. It is clear that our community demands more.”

Krueger fully intends on being involved going forward, even though she’s not a member of the school board.

“I plan to still attend committee meetings for the board, and share my perspectives and research on these issues,” Krueger said. “I may not be a voting board member, but I still want to be involved in improving student wellbeing and academic success.”

Krueger added that she will be at the Coffee House on Main from 10 a.m. to noon on Saturday for anyone who would like to connect on those shared concerns.

“I want to help build community around these issues. My email address is isabellakrueger2468@gmail.com,” Krueger continued.

In the regular school board race, longtime board member Don Leathers (6,587 votes) and Cece Kroc (6,276 votes), who secured a second term, were the top vote-getters.

“I’m glad to have the confidence of the people,” Leathers said. “What I interpret from that is they believe I’m doing a fairly good job. I appreciate the support.”

Leathers said he is looking forward to getting into the schools and the classroom to see what work needs to be done and supported within the district. He added that he would like to concentrate on the READ (Reading to Ensure Academic Development) Act, which was put into effect in July of 2023.

“I’m not a great believer in standardized testing … but I do know to be a successful citizen you have to read and you have to compute,” Leathers said.

All of this work is underscored by a desire to create a better line of communication throughout the board and administration, noting that it isn’t bad, but that it can be improved.

“We’re in a partnership together,” he said. “The more progress we make helps the needs of our constituents.”

Kroc has not yet returned a request for comment.

Robert Hartmann II (3,930, 16.56%) will join them as a new face on the board to round out the top three winners of that race. 

“I’m very grateful, very honored to have been elected by the members of our community,” Hartman said. “I’m excited to get started. Excited to get into the schools.”

Hartman, who has been heavily involved in the community outside of the district, said he’s looking to foster a better connection with the district that builds upon an already good system.

“I think Austin does have a good school system, but if we want to continue to build Austin as a whole, No. 1, how can we improve even further,” he said. “No. 2, how can we instill the want for students that aren’t in the school system to come back …”

Inwardly, Hartman hopes to be able to help better develop the communications between district and community.

“I think our school system does a great job communicating what goes on in the schools to parents, Hartmann said, indicating that more detail could be included on why decisions are made. “I think building on the communication can definitely see a little bit of improvement.”

“We’re not getting a detailed version,” he added.

Watsana Thiravong (3,513, 14.80%) and Berghyn Hull (3,317, 13.97%) rounded out the candidates.

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