David Abundis is a longtime public school teacher and administrator who previously served on Harlandale ISD’s Board of Trustees, but resigned amid turmoil in 2019.

Hear from the candidate

Please tell voters about yourself.

Professional background:

  • Teacher – 9 years
  • Assistant Principal – 2 years
  • Principal – 8 years
  • Director of federal and state programs in the business and finance department – 4 years

Motivation: The state of funding in public education. The lack of state funding and the unknown with federal funding. I want to ensure that special education, English language learners and economically disadvantaged students are being served to the level they deserve.

List any previous experience in the community or in the education field, such as participation in parent teacher associations, local boards and commissions or neighborhood associations.

My wife and I were always part of the PTA while our children were in school. I was on the Harlandale school board for 12 years. Prior to being on the board, I was involved in several community groups. I also worked for census 2020 primarily in my community because I wanted to make sure everyone in my community was being counted.

If elected, you’ll likely be facing a budget deficit and the possibility of funding hamstrung by the state. How would you approach these issues? Where should the district turn to save money if needed? 

  1. The school district should implement an approach to evaluate strategy/program effectiveness using ‘system strategy return on investment (ROI).’ Basically, ROI I education measures the effectiveness of educational investments by evaluating the financial and non-financial returns relative to the costs incurred.
  2. As non-teaching staff leave the district, evaluate the position to determine if their role can be absorbed by other individuals.
  3. If the district is running a summer school program to meet HB 1416 requirement, then consider ADSY initiative that could provide funding for summer school for K-5 students.
  4. Apply for grants that would allow you to pay for salaries.

What do you think the district’s biggest challenges are in the coming years, and what should be the board’s top areas of focus?

The biggest challenges for the district will be finance and enrollment. The district lost about 600 students when they closed the five campuses a few years ago, when they had only lost about 200 students the year before. The board and superintendent should have come up with a plan to attract new students or students that left the district for a charter/private school. The district could consider converting some of our current schools to specialize campuses with unique programming. With finance, the district will have to adopt balanced budgets and not budget deficits. ROI can help with that.

Please list any relevant endorsements in this race.

I have been endorsed by county commissioner Rebeca Clay-Flores and former Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff.

Read more

Longtime Trustee David Abundis Resigns Amid Harlandale ISD Turmoil

This article was assembled by various members of the San Antonio Report staff.