Your Vote Counts 2023: CSISD Board of Trustees Place 7

COLLEGE STATION, Texas (KBTX) – Two longtime College Station residents are going head to head for the Place 7 seat on the College Station ISD Board of Trustees.

One is incumbent Geralyn Nolan who moved to College Station in 1999 to attend Texas A&M University.

“I graduated with my undergrad in 2002, got married in College Station in 2003 and I started having kids not too long after that,” Nolan said.

She’s a mother of three and was first elected to the seat in 2017. During her two terms, she said some of her biggest accomplishments have been expanding Career & Technical Education (CTE) programs, building relationships in the community and helping construct the 2020 Strategic Design Framework.

“That allowed us to really focus on what needed to be happening in order to reach that next level and also just bring continuity throughout our entire district,” Nolan said.

In her six years on the school board, she’s worked with 13 different board members and three superintendents. The incumbent said she wants to remain a consistent presence on the board to hold leaders accountable, focus on the district’s budget and maintain transparency throughout College Station ISD.

“That means paying attention to the culture at our schools, making sure that we’re fostering an environment for our staff where they feel confidence and they feel valued,” Nolan said.

The incumbent’s opponent Heather Simmen is a lifelong resident of College Station along with a wife and mother.

“My experience in CSISD is I had some amazing teachers and administrators,” Nolan said. “My children have too, and I would really like for that to continue on for future students of CSISD,” Simmen said.

The candidate is also the owner of Pride Cleaners in College Station. She said her experience as a small business owner will allow her to bring a fresh perspective to the school board and its budget.

“I feel like in our current state of severely underfunded public education, that I would be able to really help the school district especially make the dollar go further,” Simmen said. “I believe our teachers need to be paid more. We need to have safe facilities for our students.”

If elected, Simmen said she wants to continue to expand CTE programs and strengthen communication throughout the district.

“The school board has the forum where parents can come speak,” Simmen said. “I’m a big believer in we do need to be listening to our stakeholders in this community and that includes students and teachers and parents.”