A BRIGHTER FUTURE
Empowering Us to Reach New Heights
About Me
My extended family is from San Antonio; however, my parents served in the Army, so we moved quite a bit while I was growing up. I attended 15 different schools before graduating from Wootton High School in Rockville, MD. I attended public schools, private schools, and Department of Defense Education Activity schools. I was always the new kid at school, so I know the unique challenges facing military children and those who are new to a community. My goal is to help support an educational environment where every child feels seen and is given the opportunity and support to thrive.
My grandmother, mother, and two of my aunts were public school teachers, so I know the countless unpaid hours and personal funding educators put into supporting their students. I have many fond memories of helping them set up their classrooms at the beginning of the school year and helping grade papers when I was a little girl.
My husband and I have two children in AHISD who attended Howard E.C.C. and now attend Cambridge Elementary where they are in the Spanish Immersion Program. I have been a member of the PTO since 2020 and a homeroom mom at Cambridge since 2021. Our daughter is active in Girl Scout Troop 5116, where I am a cookie mom and lead our participation in the Alamo Heights Holiday Parade. Our son is active in Cub Scouts Pack 59, Strings, and Odyssey of the Mind.
My educational background includes a B.S. in Neurobiology & Physiology from the University of Maryland College Park, and then I earned a Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering and a Certificate in Translational Science from the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio/University of Texas at San Antonio. For eight semesters during graduate school, I was a teaching assistant at UTSA for courses MAT1073 (Algebra for Engineers), MAT1093 (Pre-Calculus for Engineers), MAT1214 (Calculus I for Engineers), and MAT1224 (Calculus II for Engineers). I also passed the TExES Math 8-12 Certification Exam in 2008.
Professionally, I am a biomedical engineer/neuroscientist supporting federally-sponsored biomedical research. My research focuses on how extreme conditions affect the human body and how we can mitigate the effects to maximize neurocognitive and physical performance. In my role, I also provide guidance to senior leadership on translational science, intellectual property protection, and technology review for our company's research & development portfolio.
Why I am running
I am an AHISD parent running for school board because I believe:
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In maintaining local control of curriculum, enabling instructional flexibility, and allowing us to best meet the needs of our community to prepare our students for future careers. (Against TEA proposed state wide required reading lists)
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We need to provide adequate funding to our schools to provide our students the education they deserve.
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We need to create an environment where every child is given the support needed to thrive.
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In the separation of church and state - I believe that parents should be in charge of their child's religious education, not the state.
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We should establish district policies where teachers and librarians are enabled to do their job and not worry that they are the next target of controversy. If parents have concerns about specific material, we have a system that allows parents to control which library material their child can access. The views of a single parent should not dictate what material the entire district can access.
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That our children should have developmentally-appropriate factually-correct curriculum that is not ideologically framed. Our children deserve a high quality education that prepares them for careers of the future.
Issues Impacting Our Schools
School Funding
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The 89th Texas Legislature approved House Bill 2 (HB 2) in 2025 that failed to deliver a meaningful increase to the “basic allotment”, which is the core per-student funding formula that districts rely on for general expenses. Public schools across the state advocated for a $1,350 increase to the basic allotment to meet the inflationary costs of operations since it was last adjusted in 2019. Only a modest $55 per student was added which is insufficient in helping our district meet the rising costs of operations, and does not provide funding for salary increases for all other district employees not covered through the Teacher Retention Allotment (TRA) that provided salary increases to AHISD teachers who have 3 or more years teaching experience.
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In the 2023-2024 school year, our district received $8,540 per student, $2,000 less than the next lowest funded district in Bexar County. Thankfully, our community has come together to support our district through the Alamo Heights School Foundation to close the gap on what the state provides and what our students deserve. Despite this, our district had to cut the operating budget by $5M for the 2025-2026 school year.
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As a School Board Trustee, I will advocate for increased funding to the basic allotment and provide outreach and education to our AHISD community about upcoming bills related to school finance so we can come together to voice our concerns to our elected representatives.
Senate Bill 11 (SB11)
Senate Bill 11 was passed in 2025, which requires that every school district and charter school in the state hold a vote on whether to adopt a policy “to provide students and employees with an opportunity to participate in a period of prayer and reading of the Bible or other religious text on each school day.” Our current board voted to not implement such a policy and I agree with their decision. I believe implementation of such a policy would violate the First Amendment of the US Constitution and Article 1 of the Texas Constitution that protects our right to freedom of religion. I believe that parents and their faith community should be in charge of religious education, not the state.
Senate Bill 12 (SB12)
Senate Bill 12 was passed in 2025, which includes language prohibiting “developing or implementing policies, procedures, trainings, activities, or programs that reference race, color, ethnicity, gender identity, or sexual orientation”. Our district has interpreted this law as meaning that visiting authors must commit to three things:
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Refrain from any mention of race, color, ethnicity, gender identity, or sexual orientation.
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If a student brings up one of those terms, the visiting author would have to respond with something like "that would be something you would need to discuss with your parents".
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Do not mention any book that recognizes the existence of race, color, ethnicity, gender identity, or sexual orientation.
I think that our district's interpretation of SB12 is overly restrictive. If that same logic was applied to this year's Texas Bluebonnet Award reading list, many authors of these books would be prohibited from visiting.
Senate Bill 13 (SB13)
Senate Bill 13 was passed in 2025, which requires additional review of library material including the following:
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Ensures parents have access to the library catalog and can control which library materials their students can access. This has been implemented by email notifications when our children check out books.
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Ensures an effective library material challenge process, including, if appropriate, the use of a local school library advisory council. This means that books in the catalog under challenge or reconsideration must be removed from district shelves until a decision is made.
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Updates the school system’s library materials acquisition policy which now includes a 30-day public review of book purchases and donations (by ISBN) and school board approval of all purchases and donations.
Recent budget cuts have reduced library staffing and our librarians' jobs are made even more difficult with these additional administrative burdens. Additionally, to prevent being targeted, they may be thinking twice about material in the collection, leading to shadow banning or silent censorship of books. Some librarians may choose to leave the field or retire to not deal with the headache.
As a School Board Trustee, I would vote against book censorship. If parents have concerns about specific material, we already have a system that allows parents to control which library material their child can access. The views of a single parent should not dictate what material the entire district can access.
State Board of Education Proposed Reading List
On January 9th, the SBOE published the Draft Rule Text: Agency Recommendations to the SBOE for the Literary Works List. The list was developed in response to HB 1605 (passed in 2023), which requires the SBOE to designate one literary work per grade level. However, for grades 6–12, TEA has proposed approximately 20 texts per grade, including five full-length works per grade such as novels, plays, or book-length nonfiction. This would essentially create a state-wide required reading list, reducing local control and instructional flexibility and crowd out literature that has been successfully taught for decades. Additionally, this reading list includes over 10 bible passages and several publications from "The State of Texas" which are interpretations of religious verses focused on the younger reader. An example for kindergarten required literary works can be seen here, which includes multiple typos within the work.
The proposed rule would take effect in schools during the 2030-31 school year to ensure sufficient time for the transition for publishers & curriculum writers, school systems, and teachers. On January 28th, the SBOE voted to delayed consideration until April 6-10th meetings to allow members time to consider the list and solicit feedback.
I believe the SBOE proposed reading list would violate the First Amendment of the US Constitution and Article 1 of the Texas Constitution that protects our right to freedom of religion. I believe that parents and their faith community should be in charge of religious education, not the state. As parents, we can contact our SBOE representative to voice our concerns.
State Board of Education Proposed Changes to Social Studies TEKS
The SBOE is currently reviewing proposed changes to social studies TEKS. Draft revisions are available here. The SBOE heard public comments on February 25th to the proposed changes. According to the American Historical Association, "The content changes under consideration omit many key histories (e.g. labor, immigration, and social change) and frames topics in ideologically framed ways (e.g. linking Pilgrims to free enterprise for first grade students)". In early October, the board announced the appointment of nine Content Advisors, who are tasked with providing recommendations to guide this round of standards revision. The SBOE is now accepting applications for social studies TEKS review work groups. Applicants do not need to be educators to apply.
I believe that our children should have developmentally-appropriate factually-correct curriculum that is not ideologically framed.