Cy-Fair Strong Schools

The Cy-Fair Strong Schools Endorsement Process

Since Cy-Fair Strong School’s inception in March 2022, we have been committed to ensuring the election of quality school board candidates in CFISD. In doing so, we feel it important to be both intentional and transparent throughout our endorsement process. We have spent a great deal of time and effort, therefore, not only figuring out what, exactly, we value in school board candidates, but also how we weigh these values in order to determine the absolute best candidates to endorse based on the CFSS vision.

The PAC Endorsement Questionnaire

We developed the PAC Endorsement Questionnaire (PEQ), which is designed to elicit responses from candidates across a number of important domains, including the candidate’s background, campaign strategy and political experience, and positions and plans related to governance, finance, operations, performance, outcomes, equity, training, and continuing education. We developed the PEQ in alignment with our current election priorities and vision/mission, and each new election cycle, our election priorities and PEQ will be updated to remain relevant and of most benefit to CFISD.

Step One

Following their official filing, we will gather and review information on each candidate in order to reveal any clear discrepancies with the CFSS mission and vision. Candidates for whom such discrepancies exist will not be invited to complete the PEQ. All other candidates will be provided the PEQ and given 10 days to complete it and submit it back to us. Should we not receive a candidate’s completed PEQ within the 10-day deadline, they will be removed from further consideration for endorsement.

Step Two

CFSS board members will review each completed PEQ as it is submitted. Every candidate’s PEQ will be assigned two reviewers who will review the responses in detail and, together, determine a score for each response. The total score for the candidate will then be calculated based on the scoring of the individual responses, as well as the relative weight assigned to each question.

If the total score falls below the established minimum cut-off score, the candidate will be removed from consideration for endorsement and will be informed of such. If the total score falls above the minimum cut-off score, they will move forward for further consideration for endorsement, which may include an additional interview with the two reviewers should there be a need for clarification or additional information, and scores may be revised accordingly.

Step Three

The entire CFSS Board will then convene to review candidates’ standings and identify the highest-scoring candidate for each position. Should there be a need for additional clarification/information, the candidate(s) may be invited to a final interview with the board, and scores may be revised accordingly. At that point, we will select candidates for endorsement for each position and inform them of such. We will also publicly announce our endorsements no later than September 4, 2023.