Allen ISD enjoys a sterling reputation. The school district has historically earned an A rating from state officials, and it boasts a graduation rate of 97%.
But Allen ISD is not the fast-growth district that it once was. Allen is mostly built out, and families aren’t pouring into its boundaries anymore. Nowadays, the school board must maintain the district’s performance while dealing with declining enrollment and stagnant state funding per student in the face of inflation and teacher salary pressures.
With caveats, we recommend incumbent Sarah Mitchell for Place 1 over opponent Shanna Coulter. Mitchell, the school board president, is better poised to deal with the district’s challenges.
First elected in 2018, Mitchell has six years of experience on the school board. She has participated in several civic leadership programs in Allen. At a recent election forum, Mitchell said her priorities are to continue the district’s academic growth and to advocate for more financial support from the state Legislature, which hasn’t budged on per-student funding since 2019.
Mitchell said that if the Legislature doesn’t increase funding, the district will have to review the programs that it offers as well as teacher-student ratios. In 2022, she joined the majority of her colleagues in voting to close two elementary schools on the east side of Allen, where the district was under capacity, and to adjust attendance zone boundaries districtwide. School officials argued that the move was necessary to save money and give teacher raises.
The vote understandably drew backlash from affected families. Mitchell showed she was willing to make an unpopular decision for what she believed to be the greater good.
Mitchell declined to meet with us and did not fill out our Voter Guide questionnaire. She didn’t return messages seeking a phone interview. An elected official, especially one leading a school board, should make herself available to discuss her record.
Coulter is also a parent in Allen ISD, and she’s a first-time office seeker. At the election forum, she cited communication and transparency as priorities. She has publicly criticized the district’s process and decision to close the east-side schools, and she sued Allen ISD over it. Court records show her lawsuit was dismissed.
We have questions about Coulter’s motives for running. She didn’t fill out our Voter Guide questionnaire or respond to interview requests.
Mitchell is the better candidate, but she should heed constituents’ criticisms about the district’s communication deficiencies.
We welcome your thoughts in a letter to the editor. See the guidelines and submit your letter here. If you have problems with the form, you can submit via email at [email protected]