A former Amarillo mayor and a former school board trustee are among the 14 candidates who will be seeking appointment to one of two vacant seats on the Amarillo ISD Board of Trustees this year.

Earlier this month, AISD named the 14 candidates who had submitted applications in hopes of being chosen by the school board to fill one of two vacant seats on the body after former trustees John Ben Blanchard and Renee McCown both recently tendered their resignations. The list of 14 candidates includes some names familiar to voters as well as some political newcomers.

Debra McCartt, who served as Amarillo’s mayor from 2007 through 2011, and John Betancourt, who served on the board for four years before being ousted in an election earlier this year, are perhaps the two best known candidates vying for appointment. Claudia Stuart, a former instructor at West Texas A&M University, is also seeking appointment after unsuccessfully seeking appointment to former trustee James Allen’s vacant seat in 2018.

Also joining McCartt, Betancourt, and Stuart in seeking appointment will be Crystal Flores, Angela Hartfelder, Matt Hite, Kayla Mendez, David Nance, Lauren Nevarez, Miriam Pacheco, Bradley Phillips, Donny Prickett, Alberto Rios, and Henry Wyckoff. With the exception of Betancourt, none of the candidates seeking appointment sought election to the board in the May 2019 election.

An appointment could be made to the board by August, reports say, but no firm deadline has been given.

Thomas Warren

Thomas Warren, III is the editor-in-chief of the Amarillo Pioneer newspaper in Amarillo, Texas.

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