In the recent municipal elections held on May 6, 2023, eight candidates went after three seats on the board of trustees but only one of those seats was defined in the first round. Now a runoff election is scheduled for Saturday, June 10.
Collin College is usually ranked within the top 30 community colleges in Texas and is a high-quality and affordable option for students looking for higher education in the Lone Star State. However, controversy regarding freedom of speech and disputes with faculty members smeared the college’s reputation. But new candidates had the goal of changing that.
During the May 6 elections, three candidates received support from the Collin Chapter of the Texas Faculty Association: Scott Coleman, vying for place 2, incumbent trustee Stacey Donald, looking to keep place 3 and Megan Wallace, who won place 1 in the first round.
In April 2023, Coleman and Wallace told the Dallas Observer that their platforms were centered around affordability for students and their families and support for teachers to guarantee a high standard of education. Additionally, Coleman’s platform addresses Collin College’s previous controversies directly. On his campaign website, Coleman said Collin College has spent over $ 1 million in legal fees and settlements which comes to a cost of $6 million in economic loss to the county.
Donald, who’s been part of the board since 2017, centered around DEI issues, paid family leave and policy change to make it possible to appeal to non-renewed faculty.
The May election was a tight race for all three places. While Wallace was the only one to win in the first round, the difference with Fred Moses was only 84 votes, which gave her 50.07% of the votes against Moses’ 49.93%.
Coleman’s race for place 2 earned him 49.11% of the votes against Philip Timmons’ 6.65% and incumbent trustee Jay Saad’s 44.24%. Coleman and Saad will face off in the June 10 election this weekend.
Donald’s place 3 was challenged by Cathie Alexander and Joe Minissale. Respectively they got 45%, 41.93% and 13.07% of the total votes in May, and now Donald and Alexander will compete for the seat this Saturday.
