Four Northside Independent School District incumbent school board members are up for reelection this year, all of whom face opposition from the district’s teacher union, which backed challengers in their races.
Union leaders are looking to shake up a board of incumbents who are primarily retired from their professional careers and promote a new class of younger community activists.
“We want a school board that’s going to work collectively with the community at large that they represent. And we don’t feel that that currently is a representation of the trustees that are on the board,” Melina Espiritu-Azocar, president of Northside AFT, said in an April 15 interview.
But the incumbents — who are now the target of some late-breaking attacks on their connections to architects and engineers who hold contracts with the district — say the opposition came as a surprise, and they didn’t expect to wind up in the crosshairs of union leaders they work closely with.
In District 2, Homer Guevara was appointed to fill a vacancy in 2024 and now faces three challengers in his bid for a full term. The union backed Sonia Jasso in that race, who works as a director of high school programs at Palo Alto College.
“I have had consistent communication with Melina Espiritu-Azocar and have visited AFT’s headquarters a few times to meet with her. We both have also communicated through emails and text messages beginning from when I was first appointed to my trustee position up until two weeks ago,” Guevara told the Report.
Incumbents in NISD school board district’s 5, 6 and 7 are all seeking reelection against a single union-backed challenger in each race.
Early voting runs Tuesday, April 22 through April 29 for the May 3 election, and voters who live in Bexar County can choose from any of these 46 early voting locations.
NISD voters who live in Medina and Bandera County who are eligible to vote for District 6 and District 7 must go to Northside Activity Center during early voting. On election day, these voters can go to the activity center, Henderson Elementary School or Aue Elementary School. Hours vary by date and location.
Read about all of the NISD school board candidates on our 2025 Education Voter Guide.
Northside ISD District 2
In NISD’s most crowded race, District 2, there are four contenders. The union said it picked Jasso because of her experience in higher education.
“She’s worked really closely with programs that bring the ability for students to gain associates degrees through Palo Alto College, and Northside currently doesn’t participate in that, so students in Northside are not able to leave with associates degrees like they are in other districts,” Espiritu-Azocar said.
The union wants innovation, she said.
Richard Delgado Jr., a Northside parent and senior community investor at Boeing, and Mary Olison, a school improvement specialist at Turn It Around, are also running for the D2 seat.
Guevara, the appointed incumbent, used to be a public school teacher, formerly sat on the board for CPS Energy and is currently a professor of government and economics at Northwest Vista College.
“With a district as large and diverse as NISD, it takes experienced, dedicated individuals to make decisions that are in the best interest of all students, families, teachers, and staff members,” Guevara said. “I understand the complexities of running such a large system, balancing the needs of different schools, and ensuring equity across the district.”
Northside ISD District 5
District 5 trustee Corinne Saldaña is seeking a second four-year term and faces one challenger.
The union is supporting Laura Zapata, a second-year assistant principal at Edison High School, who was previously a teacher.
“She knows exactly what teachers are dealing with and what teachers need in order to be successful. She knows that innovative professional development is needed,” Espiritu-Azocar said.
Saldaña, a retired educator with more than 30 years of experience, declined to comment for this story.
Northside ISD District 6
District 6 trustee Carol Harle was elected in 2013, and running for a fourth term on the NISD board.
In District 6, the union endorsed Nicolette Ardiente, a community organizer with the Bexar County Young Democrats who is challenging incumbent Harle, an education professor at the University of Texas at San Antonio.
“What we see in District 6 is a community that does not know who their trustee even is,” Espiritu-Azocar said about Harle, who served three terms on NISD’s board.
“[Ardiente] is very passionate about public education. She’s willing to do the work with her community, and that’s really important to us,” Espiritu-Azocar said.
Harle, an education professor at the University of Texas at San Antonio, said her connection with the community shines through by visiting classrooms, celebrating teacher and student achievements, attending school and district-wide events and advocating for public education in Austin.
“I’ve never pursued this position out of ambition or political gain; I ran — and continue to serve — because I deeply love this community and believe in the crucial role public schools play in positively shaping lives,” Harle told the Report.
Northside ISD District 7
District 7 trustee Karen Freeman is a longtime member, elected in 2005, who has held her seat for 20 years.
For this seat, the union endorsed someone who Espiritu-Azocar called a “mom” to children in the district currently, as well as a grandmother to a child in the district.
“She understands what parents are dealing with right now, and that parent perspective is exceptionally important,” Espiritu-Azocar said.
Challenger Larissa Martinez co-founded Circle of Arms, a nonprofit for veterans, has served on several boards at the district and county level and is a current NISD mother and grandmother.
Martinez is vying for the seat Freeman has held for five consecutive terms.
Four of Freeman’s kids have graduated from the district. She earned the H-E-B Excellence in Education Award for School Boards in 2023, and she was endorsed by the NISD Chapter of the Association of Texas Professional Educators.
“We need independent voices on the board who will work for every student and staff member, not just those aligned with one group. I remain committed to being that independent voice,” Freeman told the Report.
Why the union has taken a hard line
“Many of the incumbents have been there an exceptionally long time, and the district has drastically changed over that time period and working people have continued to not have a voice throughout the leadership,” Espiritu-Azocar says.
Staff and union members have repeatedly taken the issue of wages for support staff up with the board, Espiritu-Azocar said, but the issue remains ignored.
Currently, Northside ISD has a $96 million budget deficit and is considering cost-saving measures like increasing class sizes and possibly cutting programming due to lower enrollment, while struggling with special education teacher shortages.
“We want a school board that’s going to work collectively with the community at large that they represent. And we don’t feel that that currently is a representation of the trustees that are on the board,” Espiritu-Azocar said.
Freeman says the union has tried to oust incumbents for years by calling incumbents on the board “political extremists.”
“I will not meet with such a confrontational organization that spews political propaganda in an attempt to garner support,” Freeman told the Report.
For his part, Guevara said he’s been able to make decisions that “reflect the unique needs of our district, putting aside partisan divides to prioritize educational excellence, student welfare, and community values.”
“Serving as trustee is about putting students first and foremost,” Guevara said.
Harle said her work on the board has always been deeply personal to her.
“It has always been and will always be focused on people, not political agendas,” Harle said.
Incumbents find support elsewhere
Despite facing opposition from a group within their district, the NISD incumbents have external supporters from community and business leaders in San Antonio.
Mario Barrera, a career lawyer and public education champion for San Antonio ISD who used to chair the San Antonio Chamber of Commerce, has contributed to two of the incumbents’ campaigns.
“They’re our biggest district in the area,” Barrera, who’s run SAISD’s most recent bond election campaigns, said about NISD. “We need that stability, and we need that stability that people like Dr. Guevara and Dr. Harle and Karen Freeman and Ms. Saldana brought to that board. And so I’ve written checks. I’m supporting them,” Barrera said during an April 16 interview.
Campaign finance reports show Barrera donated $250 to Guevara’s campaign and a total of $500 to Freeman’s campaign.
Finance reports recently became a point of contention when the union accused the incumbents of accepting campaign dollars from architecture and engineering firms the union said have active contracts with NISD, an action Northside AFT alleges is a “clear conflict of interest, if not outright corruption.”
The union listed DBR Engineering Consultants, Alamo Architects and Chesney Morales Partners as firms who donated to incumbents’ campaigns.
Individual employees from these firms did contribute to the incumbents’ campaigns in the form of $500 or less. NISD incumbents contend they did not receive corporate donations, rather they received individual contributions, meaning no ethical lines were crossed.
“All donations that I have received came from individuals who believe I can continue to make a positive impact for Northside ISD,” Guevara said.
Harle called the union’s accusations “misinformation,” adding that her campaign was financed by individual contributions from “friends, neighbors, educators, parents, and grandparents who genuinely care about our public schools.”
Northside AFT contributed $878 each to the campaigns of Jasso, Zapata, Ardiente and Martinez.
Correction: This story has been updated to correctly quote Espiritu-Azocar on the union’s endorsement of District 7 candidate Larissa Martinez and to remove an unclear attribution to the union leaders.
