The Alamo Heights Independent School District won’t have any shakeups after Saturday night’s school board election.
After the dust had settled, incumbents Ty Edwards and Hunter Kingman held onto their Place 3 and Place 4 seats, respectively, after being challenged by two AHISD parents who had the backing of local Democrats.
Edwards took 62.43% of the vote and Kingman took 64.47%. Their challengers, Lindsey Saldana in Place 3 and Bianca Cerqueira in Place 4, took 37.57% and 35.53%.
The raw vote totals were higher than in other races in Saturday’s low-turnout election, with nearly 3,000 votes cast — a higher turnout than the AHISD board races last year too.
Alamo Heights ISD doesn’t frequently have contested races for its school board positions, but this year two incumbents on the Board of Trustees drew challengers amid consternation with its handling of a new “parents’ rights” law.
In January, the district cancelled an author visit after two parents complained that one of the writer’s books mentioned the LGBTQ+ community.
It was a cautious decision, district officials said, in the face of Senate Bill 12, a recently passed law that limits classroom discussion of gender ideology, race, sexual orientation and other topics. It was only one of several laws framed as “parent choice” bills passed during the 2025 legislative session.
Upset parents rallied around the author issue and informally picked two moms, Saldana and Cerqueira, to run against the two incumbents up for reelection this year. In an area where school board races are usually quiet, both challengers got backing from local Democrats who want school boards to push back against the state more.
The incumbents say the district was just playing it safe at a time when the state is bearing down on public education with new laws and policies scrutinizing classroom content and hiring practices.
Having a “consensus board” is the district’s strength, Edwards and Kingman said, and they viewed their roles as shaping AHISD’s budget and overseeing administrative processes — but the challengers viewed the lack of friction as “sweeping things under the rug.”
Reached on election night, both Kingman and Edwards said they were thankful that voters reelected them.
In a phone interview, Cerqueira said she was disappointed but knew going against a well-known incumbent like Kingman would be an “uphill battle.”
“I am proud of what I was able to do,” said Cerqueira, a neuroscientist who moved to the district a few years ago. “I hope more than anything this helps our district and board know there are parents concerned about book bans and other issues.”
Kingman is a district alumnus and AHISD parent, currently working in real estate development.
Edwards is a financial adviser and his challenger, Saldana, is an assistant principal at Loma Park Elementary in Edgewood ISD.
Saldana did not respond to a request for comment on Saturday.
Challenges in AHISD
Alamo Heights ISD is one of the smallest and wealthiest districts in the San Antonio area, located in a small enclave that includes the cities of Alamo Heights, Terrell Hills, Olmos Park and a sliver of San Antonio’s North Side.
Unlike neighboring districts, AHISD is not facing declining enrollment, but is feeling tighter purse strings amidst inflation and little increase to base public school funding from the state.
Located in a property-rich area, the district had to pay the state back millions last year under what’s known as the “Robin Hood” program.
Last year, the district reduced its budget by 10% to get out of a deficit, cutting several student programs and staff positions.
At the same time, the district is undergoing major bond project renovations and trying to keep up with a diversifying pool of students.
