Kristina Haggard

I am a wife, mother of four, NCISD graduate, and longtime member of the New Caney community. For more than 14 years, my career has involved budgeting, assessing needs, balancing priorities, solving problems, and working with people from diverse backgrounds. I care deeply about our community and believe strong leadership starts with listening, working together, and keeping students, staff, families, and our community at the center of decisions.

First, I bring over 14 years of real-world experience evaluating needs, managing budgets, balancing priorities, and finding solutions. Second, I am willing to ask questions and stand by my convictions while still working well with others. Third, I consider decisions from multiple perspectives and how they affect our students, staff, families, and community as a whole.

I believe our biggest challenges are continued academic growth, supporting and retaining quality teachers and staff, and responsibly managing the needs that come with growth. I would work alongside the Board to monitor progress, evaluate priorities and resources, listen to our staff and community, and support solutions that strengthen our district for the future.

NCISD already undergoes an independent annual financial audit and has earned an A/Superior financial accountability rating. I support continuing that process and maintaining transparency with our community. As a trustee, I would review the findings, ask questions when needed, and support responsible stewardship of taxpayer dollars.

Parents and guardians should be active partners in their children's education and their strongest advocates. They should know what their children are learning, have access to information, communicate with teachers and administrators, ask questions, and be involved in decisions that affect their child. Strong schools require strong relationships between families and educators.

Yes. Materials available to students should be age-appropriate and comply with Texas law. NCISD already provides parents access to campus library catalogs and has a process for reviewing and challenging materials. I support continuing that transparency and established review process, while removing materials determined to violate applicable standards.

I support keeping material that meets Texas's legal definition of harmful to minors out of our schools and following the law and established review procedures when concerns are raised. Section 43.24 defines "harmful material" using specific legal criteria, so I believe decisions should be based on the actual content and law rather than labels alone.

I do not believe books or materials should be removed simply because they fall under a broad category. They should be evaluated based on their actual content, age appropriateness, educational value, Texas law, and district policy. NCISD already provides parents access to library materials and a process for raising concerns, and I support continuing that process.

I believe the SBOE plays an important role in setting standards and reviewing instructional materials, but local districts should also retain an appropriate role in selecting materials that meet state standards and their students' needs. Parents should have transparency and access throughout that process.

Parents should have full access to what is happening with their children at school. They should be able to review curriculum and instructional materials, know what is being taught in the classroom, access online resources, and communicate openly with their child's teachers. Parents should never be left in the dark when it comes to their child's education.

Students need a strong foundation in reading, writing, math, science, and history, but preparation should not stop there. I also support strong CTE, college and career readiness, financial literacy, technology, communication, and critical-thinking skills. Every student's path after graduation may look different, and our schools should prepare them to succeed.

I believe the Bible can appropriately be available in a public school library as a religious, historical and literary resource, just as other appropriate religious texts may be available. Any decision should follow the same lawful, age-appropriate library selection policies used for other materials rather than promoting or discouraging a particular religious belief.