Meet Rich

I am passionate about education. As a first-generation American, I learned from my family the value of a good education toward achieving the American Dream in this great country that we are honored to call home. I strongly believe that a community cannot be great unless it has a great school system. My children attended Boerne ISD schools for all thirteen years of their primary and secondary education. I am committed to seeing that future generations of Boerne children, including my two grandchildren, receive the same excellent education that my children received, and I will go anywhere, anytime to advocate for them.

It’s been an honor to serve our community as a trustee for Boerne ISD.

It has been the greatest privilege to serve alongside dedicated educators, staff, and fellow trustees to provide world-class opportunities for our students. From maintaining our consistent A-rating from the Texas Education Agency to expanding innovative programs like our early college P-Tech academies in health careers and cybersecurity, we’ve achieved remarkable progress – even while receiving close to $3000 less per student in funding than the average Texas district.

Great schools don’t happen by accident – they require teamwork, vision, and careful stewardship of resources. During my current term, BISD had balanced budgets annually, earned Superior ratings from the Financial Integrity Rating System of Texas for 15 consecutive years, and delivered real property tax relief through our aggressive advocacy in Austin that helped lower the Maintenance and Operations tax rate by 33% since 2019.

Key accomplishments under our board’s leadership include:

·      Sustaining BISD’s elite A-rating, achieved by only 31 of more than 1200 Texas districts

·      Launching two P-Tech academies, positioning over 200 seniors by 2028 to graduate with both a high school diploma and an Associate’s Degree, saving students thousands of dollars in future educational costs

·      Achieving over 95% College, Career, or Military Readiness among graduates, far exceeding the state average of 82%.

·      Saving taxpayers $27 million in interest through early debt payoff since 2023, and $85 million since 2016. More substantial savings are projected for the next several years.

·      Maintaining the second lowest Interest & Sinking tax rate among the 17 fast-growth districts in the San Antonio-Austin area.

·      Advocating successfully at the state level for increased homestead exemptions and school funding reforms, providing tax relief even amid rising property values. I was honored to be one of four Texans invited by Senator Paul Bettencourt, Chairman of the Senate Local Government Committee, to testify in favor of SB 4, that substantially increased the Homestead Exemption to $140k for those under 65 and $200k for those over 65 or disabled.

·      Led local opposition to the State of Texas Robin Hood system. We successfully fought this and Boerne ISD no longer pays this outrageous tax, which cost our community over $120 million from 2005 to 2022.

Beyond the boardroom I am deeply rooted in the Boerne community through years of volunteer service, serving on the board of the Hill Country Pregnancy Care Center, teaching Sunday School at Currey Creek Church. I have also served as a civic leader as President of both the Boerne Sunrise Rotary and Kendall County Republican Club and have written a column in the Boerne Star for 14 years.

As a parent, grandparent, volunteer, and neighbor, I understand the heart of our community. I believe that service extends far beyond board meetings because of a belief in giving back every way I can, from the classroom to the capitol, from local nonprofits to our churches.

My running mate Kristi Schmidt (Place 6) and I are committed to continuous improvement in academics and career-technical education, responsible fiscal management, and further advocacy for property tax relief – all while honoring and preserving Boerne and Fair Oaks Ranch’s traditional Hill Country values that make our community so unique.

We humbly ask for the continued support and prayers of our community as we seek to build on BISD’s legacy of excellence.