Schulte withdraws as candidate for Katy ISD Board of Trustees

By George Slaughter, News Editor
Posted 3/3/23

In a surprise, last-minute move, Katy ISD Position 5 Trustee Greg Schulte withdrew as a candidate to the school board.

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Schulte withdraws as candidate for Katy ISD Board of Trustees

Posted

In a surprise, last-minute move, Katy ISD Position 5 Trustee Greg Schulte withdrew as a candidate to the school board.

Schulte, 55, is an engineer and business executive. He was first elected in 2020 and serves as school board president. He said he had received pushback from directors at his company, along with his family, about keeping up with being a full-time executive—he said he had 12-hour-a-day, six-day workweeks—along with the additional hours on the board, plus the time required for a re-election campaign.

Schulte has also been dealing with some personal losses over the last year. His said his mother died last summer, and his father died in January.

“Something had to give,” Schulte said. “I just couldn’t do it all.”

According to documents filed with the district, Schulte filed to be a candidate Jan. 23, well in advance of the Feb. 17 filing deadline.

The district received his withdrawal Feb. 24, which was the withdrawal deadline. He had a hard time with the decision, he said, because he loves being on the school board.

“I’m going to miss it,” Schulte said. “I love it, but it’s a lot of work. It’s a lot of work to do things right.”

Shulte’s withdrawal leaves two candidates vying for the position 5 seat. One is Mary Ellen Cuzela, a Katy ISD substitute teacher. The other is Shana Peterson, who is retired. Peterson first filed to run for the position 3 seat, but changed her filing to run for the position 5 seat instead.

This year’s school board election is the first in recent memory where no incumbent is seeking re-election. Position 3 Trustee Ashley Vann and Position 4 Trustee Leah Wilson had previously announced their plans to step down from office. Schulte said having three new board members is a big deal.

“It can change a lot of things,” Schulte said.

Schulte said he felt there are qualified candidates running. He said he thought incumbents would have a hard time winning their races.

“It would have been a real challenge,” Schulte said. He said he has not decided whether to endorse any of the candidates who are running.

“It’s an interesting question,” Schulte said. “I’m still wrestling with it. My position has been, before, as a board member, not to endorse. But since I’m transitioning out, I may actually do that.”

The election is May 6.

Katy ISD, Katy ISD Board of Trustees, election