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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 6,906 votes (51.09%) as opposed to Krueger’s final tally of 6,559 votes (48.52%).

“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.

Krueger has not yet returned a call for comment.

In the regular school board race, longtime board member Don Leathers (8,762 votes) and Cece Kroc (8,398 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 (5,143, 16.30%) will join them as a new face on the board to round out the top three winners of that race. He has also not yet returned a call for comment.

Watsana Thiravong (4,687, 14.85%) and Berghyn Hull (4,421, 14.01%) rounded out the candidates.

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