Plumbing 
Jesse Rizo
Jesus “Jesse” Rizo understands the rules of engagement during board meetings mean trustees can’t always respond to public commenters. But local school trustees give off a cold, calculated feel that he’d like to see change, Rizo said.
“The key is engaging the community,” Rizo said.
Rizo, 53, of Batesville, is among seven candidates vying for one of three opening seats on the Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District’s board. The four-year terms of Luis Fernandez, Rob Fowler, and Cal Lambert, are expiring this year. The position is unpaid.
Rizo, who works as a customer services technician at AT&T, wants to see stronger, more open, more empathetic leadership on UCISD’s board. If elected, he said, he would advocate to expand transparency and board accessibility and encourage people to ask more questions of their local boards.
“Their voices are very important and they need to know that,” Rizo told the Leader-News.
Rizo is competing with newcomers Erika Ayala-Muñoz, Jaclyn Gonzales, Paul “Wayne” Moss Jr., Lambert, Fernandez, and former board member Roland Sanchez.
Finding solutions
Rizo said that issues in Uvalde’s school system precede the May 24, 2022, shooting at Robb Elementary.
“I saw there were a lot of deficiencies and areas for opportunity,” he said of the years before and since.
He believes that board members rarely vary from the majority opinion and don’t possess strong, individual leadership skills. He said he thinks everyone does what they’re told out of fear of going against the grain.
People within the school system, such as staff and teachers, rarely say what change they’d like to see out of fear of losing their jobs, he said.
Although, he noted, the work doesn’t stop at identifying the issues. Community members and the school need to work together to find actual solutions.
“You need to be part of the solution if you want to see change,” Rizo said.
The school district needs to create a space where people feel comfortable expressing their needs. And people who want to see change must speak, Rizo said. He’d like to promote that environment at the local level.
By finding a balance between the needs of the school and community that allows for more openness, the district can inspire students to ask more questions about school and life after it, he said.
security, education
Despite the fact that UCISD has thrown millions of dollars toward security since May 24, Rizo said, he’s concerned about the lack of internal accountability.
Some administrators who played a role in the district’s response to the Robb shooting are still employed by the district today. If elected, he would push for the district to reconsider its employment of those administrators and other structural matters.
He added that a key way to improve education in the local school system is to show students that someone believes in them and in their ability to succeed. Rizo believes boosting both student and teacher morale through support will dramatically affect student outcomes after high school.
“If you can improve their lives and morale they’re going to be successful,” he said.
Tough conversations
Rizo said he would approach addressing community concerns through a solutions-oriented approach.
He thinks board members should listen to concerns thoroughly, point complainants in the correct direction to get that issue resolved, and follow up with educational materials so people know where to go for specific matters.
A board member’s role is to represent the public’s values. He sees town hall meetings or more direct conversations as effective ways to hear what those values are.
Strong leadership starts with letting staff and others know that they have an advocate on the board, Rizo said. And being a strong advocate starts with asking tough questions.
“I may not be the best speaker, I may not be good looking, I might be shy, but I am not afraid.”
About Rizo
Rizo is originally from Batesville and graduated from Uvalde High School in 1990. He went on to attend Southwest Texas Junior College and Austin Community College before graduating with a business degree from St. Edward’s University in 2002. He said it took him a while to figure out what he wanted to do in life.
He moved back to Uvalde in the early 2000s and stayed here until the COVID-19 pandemic struck. He then moved in with his mother in Batesville to help take care of her.
Rizo recently married his wife, Juanita née Cazares , in March. He has an adult daughter living in Katy and four grandchildren*, he said.
He has also served on the Batesville Water Supply board for just under a year, he said.
Editor’s note: The Uvalde Leader-News is publishing free candidate announcements provided candidates meet with and answer questions from the newspaper. As of April 5, Roland Sanchez and Luis Fernandez were the only candidates who had not responded to a request for an interview. Cal Lambert declined to answer Leader-News questions.
*This story was updated on April 16 to accurately reflect how many grandchildren Rizo has and where his daughter lives. The newspaper regrets this error.
Sofi Zeman (szeman@ulnnow.com, 830-278-3335) is a Report for America corps member who writes about education and crime for the Leader-News. Your donation to match our RFA grant helps keep Sofi writing stories like this one; please consider making a tax-deductible gift of any amount today by visiting tinyurl.com/995h5cka
