Cliff Luttrell speaks at a dinner. Photo by Joni Simon

Boerne Independent School District School Board candidates can agree on at least one thing. They told the Kendall County Republican Club last week that they’re in a good place in their lives when they could kick back and take it easy, but they say they feel it’s their time to return something the community.

“I just turned 50,” said attorney Robert Ogle, who’s running for Place 6. “Life is great for me. It would be easy to sit on my laurels.”

Ogle, who was a member of the Quality of Life Bond Committee, says he got a good idea as to what residents want and that’s smaller schools.

“That’s why we come to Boerne,” Ogle said. “We didn’t want a Judson. A smaller school is always better.”

Ogle said as a school board trustee, he would do his research, then go to the community with his findings.

“I’m accountable,” he said. “If I’m not doing a good job, I want people to come to me.”

With four sons going through the Boerne schools, Place 6 candidate Baron Houser told the Republicans he’d like to see the district continue to grow and be strong academically.

“I think it’s my time to get up and give back to my community,” said Houser, 48, who heads BeHomes, a housing construction company. “That’s a strong part of who I am.”

Place 7 candidate, Robert Jubella, 62, a former vice principal of Boerne High School, even had the son of one of the other candidates laughing when he said he could “be the happy, fat retired guy.”

Robert Jubella, Robert Ogle and Baron Houser Photo by Joni Simon

Jubella said he supports the late Sam Champion’s motto while he was principal at BHS: “Everybody’s somebody at Boerne High School.”

Jubella told the club members that he’s concerned that other countries are surpassing the United States in excellence.

“We’re not raising up many rocket scientists,” Jubella said. “How are we going to fix that?”

Place 7 contender Cliff Luttrell, 46, a dentist and the only incumbent in the race, is also the current school board president. He says that under his leadership, the board has stayed on budget and on target.

“The Boerne schools have grown tremendously,” he said. “It’s the teachers who make the difference. Who remembers who was the school board president when they were in school? I don’t. But I do remember who my teachers were.”

Luttrell said the school board had approved considerable teacher raises in the last two years.

“We’ve made significant improvement,” he said. “We are, at some points, equal and above the pay for Northside teachers. We’re also going to have two wonderful schools. Boerne High School will be renovated in such a beautiful way that there won’t be any let-down.”

The candidates say they’re concerned about lack of voter interest in the school board election.

“Voter apathy in our city is horrendous,” Houser said. “I hope people do their civic duty and get out and vote.”

“The school board election is sometimes a silent election,” Ogle said. “That shows at the polls.”