HISD Board of Education Runoff Election Results

Board President Rhonda Skillern-Jones and Trustee Manuel Rodriguez Jr. were re-elected to the Houston Independent School District Board of Education on Saturday, according to final, but unofficial results of the trustee runoff election.

Skillern-Jones, who has served on the board for four years, defeated challenger Larry Williams to retain her District II seat. Rodriguez, who has served on the board for 11 years, defeated challenger Jose Leal in the race for the District III spot.

Both will serve a four-year term, which formally begins when they are sworn in during the first 2016 Board of Education meeting on January 14.

In addition to serving as board president, Skillern-Jones also represents HISD on the Texas Association of School Boards (TASB) Board of Directors. The native Houstonian earned both a bachelor’s degree in business administration and a master’s degree in clinical sociology from Texas Southern University.

Rodriguez, who serves as first vice president of the board and was first elected in 2003, is the founder and president of the MARVAA Corporation, which provides assistance in education, housing, and community involvement. A graduate of HISD’s Stephen F. Austin High School, Rodriguez earned an associate of arts degree in social sciences from Solana Community College and studied organizational behavior management and marketing at University of Houston.

Joining Skillern-Jones and Rodriguez are Diana Dávila and Jolanda Jones, both of whom were elected to the board in November’s general election.

Jones won a seat on the board for the first time, beating out three opponents to fill the District IV spot being vacated by departing Trustee Paula Harris. Jones owns the Law Office of Jolanda Jones and previously spent four years on the Houston City Council, where she served as a council member at-large in District V. She earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Houston and a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Houston Law Center.

A former HISD teacher, Dávila previously served on the HISD Board from 2003 to 2010. She defeated incumbent Trustee Juliet Stipeche for the District VIII seat. A graduate of HISD’s Milby High School, Dávila earned a bachelor’s degree in interdisciplinary studies with an emphasis on bilingual education from the University of Houston and a master’s degree in educational management and principal certification from University of Houston-Clear Lake.