Ida Perez Sudolcan is the parent of four students who attended Southwest ISD and is currently on the district’s board of trustees.
Hear from the candidate
Please tell voters about yourself.
I started working for the HEB grocery company while I still in high school and continued my career there until March of 1991 when our first son was born. At that time my husband and I decided that I would stay home and raise our children. My husband David and I have four sons all who attended and graduated from the Southwest Independent School District. Three of our sons graduated from A&M San Antonio and one from The University of the Incarnate Word. John is a Special Education teacher at Somerset ISD, Mark is employed by USAA, Joe is a contractor for the Federal Government and Steven teachers History at Wagner High School. Although circumstances prevented my husband and I from attended college we made sure that our sons did because we knew it would open a world of opportunity. My motivation for running for the school board is to continue serving our community and to continue to provide oversight so that the best interest of our students and community remains our focus. Our school board has a history of working together with one goal in mind “student success.”
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.
I began my service to the Southwest community as a PTA member at Elm Creek Elementary School in
the 1990s and later served the community as a coach and board member of the Southwest Pony
League. I served on numerous committees for the school district before deciding to run for a seat on the
board. I currently serve as a CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocate) for children in the Foster Care
system. Being at CASA is one of the most rewarding things I have ever done. My parents raised us to
believe in service to others, and I, along with my eight brothers and sisters have continued to honor our
parents by serving in whatever capacity necessary. The one and only office I have run for besides Pony
League President is the school board.
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?
The uncertainty of school funding is certainly an issue that weighs heavy on school board members. It’s
critically important to learn as much as we can about the budgeting process. We meet on a regular basis
to discuss our budget forecast. Southwest ISD has always believed that every penny we spend should go
to support our students and their success. I am a big advocate of process improvement; how can we get
great results but spend less doing it? Budgeting becomes more complicated because of the uncertainty of what will come from Austin, but we can’t just sit around and wait, we have to be proactive and look for ways to trim. SWISD is the biggest employer in our community, we value our people and will always look for ways to trim the budget while always taking care of our families.
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?
One of our biggest challenges in the coming years is going to be staying on top of the growth that’s
happening on the Southwest side of Bexar County. Our community has always supported our Bond
elections and allowed us to build new schools as needed, but we need our County officials to help us with infrastructure. Every time you turn around there is a new subdivision popping up with little to no help from the county with roads and safety issues. It’s challenging to work with County and City officials and make them understand the obstacles we face. I believe that the board’s top areas of focus should be increased funding for our schools, increased opportunities for our students and increased efficiency.
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