With early voting concluded and Election Day set for Saturday, May 2, Boerne ISD Place 7 Trustee Rich Sena is urging voters to return him for a fifth term, emphasizing the district's sustained academic and financial achievements under his leadership.
Sena, who has served on the board since 2014 and currently holds the position of Board Vice President, faces challenger Michael Ethridge in one of the few contested races on the May 2 ballot. The incumbent is campaigning on a record of six straight 'A' accountability ratings from the Texas Education Agency and a Superior rating from the state's Financial Integrity Rating System of Texas (FIRST) every year he has been a trustee.
“Providing a strong education for our children is the most important thing a community can do,” Sena said. “Communities can have beautiful parks and great roads, but they cannot truly thrive without excellent schools.”
According to the campaign, the district has balanced its budgets, maintained the recommended fund balance, and reduced administrative overhead by $1.5 million in the most recent budget cycle. Sena also noted that starting teacher pay in Boerne ISD has increased from $43,000 to $60,000 during his tenure, a result of advocacy efforts including his testimony in Austin supporting a state-funded teacher retention allotment.
“There is not a person in this community who has advocated harder for our teachers than I have,” Sena said. As chair of the district's Legislative Advocacy Committee, he was one of only a handful of Texas school board members to testify in favor of the allotment, which ultimately passed.
Looking ahead, Sena has identified expanding Career and Technical Education offerings as a priority for his next term, along with continued investment in leadership training and professional development for staff. He emphasized that the district's rapid growth in the Texas Hill Country requires data-driven planning, using annual enrollment projections from a professional demographer and input from long-range planning committees and citizen panels.
“We can never rest on our laurels,” Sena said. “Continuous improvement is the standard. The minute a district gets comfortable is the minute it starts falling behind.”
Sena, a first-generation American whose parents emigrated from Italy, owns an insurance agency in Boerne. Both of his children attended Boerne ISD for all 13 years of their K-12 education; his daughter is now a fourth-grade teacher in a neighboring district.
“My kids got an excellent education in Boerne ISD,” Sena said. “Every decision I make as a trustee comes back to one question: are we giving the next generation of Boerne kids the same shot mine got?”
Voters will head to the polls on Saturday, May 2, from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Polling locations include Boerne City Hall and the Fair Oaks Ranch Police Department. For more information, visit www.senaforbisd.com.
