LA FERIA — The district has new trustees joining the school board.
Three former La Feria High School graduates pulled in enough votes to earn places in the decision-making process for the future of the district.
Two of the three school board seats up for grabs were heavily contested.
Longtime resident and former employee for the district, Michelle Gomez-Vela, unseated incumbent Gloria Casas in the race for place one
She tallied just more than 200 votes more than Casas out of a total of 1,837 cast.
“I feel so honored and elated knowing that my humble community elected me to serve on the LFISD school board,” Gomez-Vela said. “I’m looking forward to serving our students and staff members during the next four years.”
Casas had held the position for more than two decades. And she also served as a statewide representative on various education organizations.
She was first elected to the school board in 1994.
Gomez-Vela, a single mother with children attending the district is also a business woman.
She works as a real estate agent.
And she is a member of the 1993 La Feria High graduating class.
“I’m making the commitment to do what is best for our school district in order to reach the next level of excellence,” Gomez-Vela said.
Casas was unavailable for comment.
School board trustee elect Ruben Zambrano Zambrano ran unopposed in the race for place two.
He is a former educator and athletics coach for the district. Currently he works as a state trooper.
Zambrano is a 2001 graduate of La Feria High.
School Board Trustee elect Michael Martinez Martinez was able to edge his opponent Ruben Leal by more than 700 votes.
Martinez graduated from the district in 2002 and married his high school sweetheart.
During his campaign he talked about his plans, if elected, to work as a team on the board and make the best decisions possible for the students and the community.
Zambrano and Martinez were not immediately available for comment.
La Feria School Board Election Results
Board of Trustees,
Pl. 1
Michelle Gomez-Vela: 1,536
Gloria Casas (I): 1,301
Board of Trustees,
Place 2
Ruben Zambrano: 2,364
Board of Trustees, Place 3
Michael Martinez:1,731
Robert “Venado” Leal: 994
