When Michael Valdez visited Seguin High School in 2018, he was in awe of the shiny state-of-the-art facility, where he competed in the One Act Play competition.
He was also disappointed when comparing the Seguin facilities built in the mid-2000s to those he attended in the Edgewood Independent School District, which was initially built in the 1950s.
He internalized the frustration and, as a senior in high school, decided to throw his hat in the ring to serve on the board of trustees, where he hoped he could make a difference. He ran unopposed in 2022.
Two years later, Valdez, now 21, has become a leader of sorts of a growing effort to upset the district’s status quo, clashing openly with fellow board members and administration, plus supporting a slate of candidates — including some other young people — who challenged incumbents this year.
Of the two races in which incumbents ran, one challenger succeeded, foreshadowing possible divisions on a board still rattled from being placed under state control from 2016 to 2018 for infighting.
Valdez concedes he hasn’t made any allies on the board.
His pattern of pulling things from the consent agenda, slowing down meetings, and peppering district staff with questions has left him with “no relationship” with his colleagues, he said, although his relationship with the superintendent has improved.
After the rest of the board members voted to sanction him for “disruptive and disrespectful conduct” in January, he said it is “really hard to try to build a relationship with someone.”
During that January meeting, trustees chided Valdez.
“I have never, ever, ever been disrespected in my life as you have disrespected me,” board president Martha Castilla said at the time.
Castilla also bristled at the costs in money and time spent on a district investigation into his behavior following employee complaints, which “could have paid for another teacher.”
Yet fellow community members and local officials have also been eager to promote the new young leader, citing his broad and consistent community involvement and his full-throated advocacy on behalf of constituents on specific issues, like pushing back against school closures and advocating for physical library books at the School of Fine Arts, his alma mater.
At a February City Council meeting, where members discussed adopting a code of conduct, Councilwoman Teri Castillo (D5) invoked the sanctions.
“We’ve seen Edgewood ISD school board member Michael Valdez [sanctioned] for quote, unquote decorum,” she said. “So when I see these examples and how it’s up for interpretation, it’s often minorities and women of color who are reprimanded for not going to get along.”
Family ties
Among his most consistent supporters and vocal critics of the district is his mother, Melody Herrera, a fixture at district board meetings — regularly advocating for more community involvement, greater transparency and accountability from a district with persistent academic issues.
Valdez said his spirit of advocacy comes in part from the example set by his mother.
“She was a real advocate for me during my educational journey,” he said, adding that she attended community college and UTSA similar to his journey. “I like to say I’m following in her footsteps, but I want to kind of beat that and get a master’s degree.”
Herrera said she encouraged Valdez to try new things, which led to a diverse educational career that included robotics, theater and cross country. He was also on the EISD Teen Board and represented District 6 on the San Antonio Youth Commission as chair, among other positions.
She said she was supportive when she learned Valdez was considering joining the board his senior year.
But as Valdez came to the end of his high school career, he came to the realization that he wasn’t fully prepared to enter higher education. Despite getting good grades and graduating in the top five in his class he didn’t score well on his SAT or other college readiness tests.
“I had to take remedial math and English courses,” he said, adding that he was frustrated that despite his efforts, he and many of his peers remained only “a few points off” from being deemed college-ready.
He was still able to go to college through the Alamo Promise program, which provides tuition and fee-free college for all Bexar County high school graduates. After a few semesters, he found his groove and began to excel.
Now, he is moving on to get a Public Administration degree from the University of Texas, San Antonio, where he holds the unusual insights of an elected official studying government in his undergraduate courses. He is also participating in a training program through the Texas Association of School Boards to earn the designation “Master Trustee.”
Moving forward
As he nears the halfway point of his term, Valdez said he is still looking for ways to help improve facilities, including the possibility of bringing forth a bond issue, like other area districts have in recent elections.
With one of his harshest critics on the board, Richard Santoyo, being ousted in the November election and two new faces joining, he said he is hoping for a more collaborative and productive path forward.
Santoyo, who was first appointed to the board of managers by the state in 2016 and later elected as a trustee in 2020, was defeated by Sergio Delgado, an Edgewood alum who ran on a platform of increasing enrollment, increasing teacher pay and overhauling the district’s nutrition program, which he said was unacceptable.
The outgoing trustee said he was concerned that Valdez and others he supported were exhibiting behavior similar to former board members that landed the district under state oversight.
In another seat vacated by Joseph M. Guerra, who opted not to run for reelection, Rudy Lopez, who retired from a career in law enforcement, beat Jubilee Pena, a 19-year-old who was inspired to run by Valdez.
While he hasn’t had a relationship with Valdez in the past, he said Wednesday that he is willing to work with all board members.
“If there is animosity between folks that are serving on the board right now, I’m willing to work with anybody that’s willing to put in the time and the sweat for it,” he said.
“I honestly don’t know Michael that well,” he added. “But it’s very important that we all work together to reach a common cause and make sure that we follow through with it.”
Emerald Alaniz, who worked with Valdez on the City’s youth commission, said she sees the pushback against Valdez as a chapter created by the old guard on the Edgewood board.
“There’s no change with the times at all,” she said. “And I feel like he’s very much pushing that boundary, and people feel discomfort from it.”
Looking forward, Valdez said he will likely run for reelection in 2026 and aspires to move on in his educational journey to get a master’s degree and, ultimately, a doctorate.
Despite the reputation he developed in the first two years of his term, Valdez has high hopes for the future.
“As a public school district, all of us are in the same mission to educate and support the students that we are educating,” he said. “Because at the end, we want to see everyone graduate college, career and military ready. That’s still our main goal and focus.”
