By Karen Gleason
The 830 Times
The San Felipe Del Rio Consolidated Independent School District (SFDRCISD) Board of Trustees welcomed back three members re-elected to their seats earlier this month, as well as one new member.
The SFDRCISD Board of Trustees canvassed the results of the May 2 school board election during their regular meeting on Monday and announced the winners of four contests for seats on the board.
Following opening ceremonies and a tribute to outgoing board president Raymond P. Meza, SFDRCISD Chief Administrative Officer Sandra Hernandez told the board, “President Meza, Dr. (Carlos) Rios and members of the board, the board of trustees election for Place 1, Place 3, Place 4 and Place 5 was held on Saturday, May 2, 2026.
“In accordance with Texas election laws, a canvass cannot occur until the early voting ballot board has verified and counted all provisional and mail-in ballots. The canvassing of the San Felipe Del Rio CISD School Board Election on this date meets all required statutes,” Hernandez added.
She said a detailed summary of the election results was part of the board members’ agenda packet.
Hernandez read the results of the election.
Hernandez said for Place 1 on the school board, the incumbent, Jesus Emilio Galindo, received an official total of 1,727 votes. His opponent,
Priscilla Aguilar, received an official total of 1,152 votes. She declared Galindo the winner of the Place 1 seat.
Hernandez said for Place 3 on the school board, the incumbent, Linda Guanajuato-Webb, received an official total of 1,546 votes. Her opponent, Edward Guerrero, received an official total of 1,377 votes. She declared Webb the winner of the Place 3 seat.
Hernandez said for Place 4 on the school board, Bryan Weston, who ran unopposed, received an official total of 2,436 votes. She declared Weston the winner of the Place 4 seat.
Hernandez said for Place 5 on the school board, the incumbent, Rebekah “Becky” Luna-Chavez, received an official total of 1,555 votes. Her opponent, Leonel “Leo” Cavazos, received an official total of 1,329 votes. She declared Chavez the winner of the Place 5 seat.
Meza asked for a motion to approve the canvass. Board member Amy Haynes made the motion to approve, with Webb giving the second. The board unanimously approved the motion.
Meza said, “I applaud the winners, and for the people who ran for election against the incumbents, they ran a clean campaign, and I thank them for running a good, clean campaign. Thank you to all the people who voted and congratulations again to all the winners.”
Meza again recognized Hernandez, who invited Val Verde County Court-at-Law Judge Sergio Gonzalez to the stage to administer the oaths of office to the winners of the election.
When Weston was sworn in as the new Place 4 member on the board, Meza left his seat on the stage, ending a 19-year-long tenure on the board.
Following the individual swearings-in, board vice president Josh Overfelt took over as presiding officer and invited each of the winners to make brief statements, beginning with Webb.
Webb said, “I just want to thank everyone for coming out and voting. I saw a lot of our teachers here earlier, especially from Head Start, and I want to say the educators in our district are fantastic. I have had the privilege of working with so many of them throughout my 42 years of being with the district.
“There are so many individuals that you work with, and I’m going to mention one because I’m looking at him right now, and that’s Mr. Joe Nieto, and the reason I’m calling him out was because he was my second grade student, and he had an award and a letter that he received from President Ronald Reagan for a project he did in social studies.
“I did not meet Mr. Nieto again until I became principal of Travis (Elementary School), and he was there with Head Start, and when I heard the name Joe Nieto, I was, like, wait a minute, Joe Nieto? Is it the same person? And he walked up to me and said, ‘You were my teacher, and now you’re my boss.’ But I applaud him for everything he did, working with the little ones, and now I know he’s a fantastic coach because I hear it from the high school students.
“Thank you. Thank you so much, and not just Mr. Nieto. There are so many other educators of students in the different campuses, and many of you are aware of the Titanic. The students in my class wrote letters to Dr. Ballard, and they all got a response, and they gave their opinion whether to raise (the Titanic) or not, but they gave their opinion, and he responded.
“These are the things I see and I saw in the different schools I worked with, so thank you to all the educators out there for the fine job you all do. . . the educators and the principals, you don’t go unnoticed,” Webb said.
Galindo spoke next, saying, “I would just like to say thank you for the opportunity to continue to serve our students, our staff, our district and our community. I am ever so grateful for this experience once again, and it is definitely great to be here and to be able to continue to serve this amazing district and this amazing community.
“It is not something I take lightly. It’s something I’m blessed to do, but I’m also privileged to do, and it’s a privilege to serve everybody here
in this room and everybody in our community. I greatly thank you all for your continued trust, your continued support, and I look forward to continuing doing great things working alongside this amazing team of eight, and I congratulate all the recently re-elected individuals, and Mr. Weston, I welcome you, sir, to our board of trustees, and I look forward to working with you.
“Lastly, thank you to my family,” Galindo said.
Overfelt recognized the board’s newest member, Weston, who said, “I just want to thank everyone who voted for me and Mr. Meza. I’ve got some big shoes to fill. . . Congratulations to everybody that was elected, and I’m looking forward to working with everybody over the next few years.”
Chavez spoke last, saying, “I really appreciate all of you taking the time to be here tonight, and specifically for all those who went out to vote. I thank you, because it is your voice. I, like Mrs. Guanajuato-Webb, was a schoolteacher and administrator for many years, and like she said, the students that wrote letters out, my students wrote letters to me, which I still have. Believe it or not, after many years, I still have those letters, and I’m hoping they have all the poems.
“I would make it a habit of writing a poem for each and every one of them at the end of the school year, every class that I had. It was something just to cherish and remember, and yes, I believe that all the teachers are number one. . . It is the educators who contribute to society, who give us what comes next through the students.
“I welcome the new board member and all the other board members who were re-elected. We are very close, and we did become a family over the last four years. Thank you to all the people who voted. Thank you very much,” Chavez said.
Overfelt then moved on to the next item on the agenda, organizing the board’s leadership through the election of officers.
The board unanimously voted Overfelt as the new president of the board of trustees.
Before moving on, Overfelt told Meza, “Mr. Meza, thank you so very much for your service to this board, and stepping in to the role you filled for so many years as board president. I will do my best to keep us on track to continue to be one of the best districts in Region 15 and the state of Texas. Thank you, sir, for your service.”
Galindo was voted in as vice president of the board, and Diego Almaraz Jr. was elected board secretary.
The writer can be reached at delriomagnoliafan@gmail.com
