AUSTIN (Talk1370.com) -- Former Austin City Council member Don Zimmerman announced Monday afternoon he'll seek election to the Round Rock ISD Board of Trustees in November.
Zimmerman's announcement comes as November's election could bring significant changes to the district's board. Four of the seven trustee seats are up for re-election; voters will also decide on someone to fill the unexpired term for the Place 1 seat vacated by Jun Xiao following his resignation last week.
"I'm committed to ending the politically correct nonsense we've seen coming from the Round Rock ISD board," Zimmerman said in a campaign press release. "It's long-past time to take playing politics off the school board agenda and to return math, phonics, comprehensive reading, and analytical thinking skills to our kids’ classrooms — all while reducing the tax levy for over-burdened RRISD taxpayers."
Zimmerman has long been critical of the district's leadership, including recent allegations involving superintendent Dr. Hafedh Azaiez, controversy surrounding a property tax increase approved by the board in 2021, and past bond proposals put forth by the district.
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"Voters are the last line of defense to deliver captive young students from politically correct indoctrination and to save our property from being taxed away," said Zimmerman. "Leftist teachers’ unions and unelected bureaucrats have been radicalizing our public schools and bullying parents for many decades — but fortunately parents and taxpayers are standing up in ways never seen before."
In 2014, Zimmerman was one of the first members elected to Austin's newly-created 10-1 city council structure. He served a two year term in the District 6 seat, before losing a re-election bid to Jimmy Flannigan in 2016. He also unsuccessfully ran for Texas House District 47 in 2020, along with a special election for the Texas Senate District 14 seat vacated by Kirk Watson - a seat ultimately won by former Travis County Judge Sarah Eckhardt.
Zimmerman, a San Antonio native, works as a high-tech systems engineer with a Master's degree in mechanical engineering from Texas A&M University.
Editor's note: This story has been updated following a clarification from Zimmerman's campaign that no final decision has been made on which board seat he intends to seek in November's election.