Denton ISD Board candidates withdraw from race, endorse Bundgus

The number of candidates for Place 2 on the Denton ISD Board of Trustees continues to dwindle.

Five different people filed earlier this year to run for the seat, but incumbent Jeanetta Smith withdrew her application just before the filing deadline on Feb. 1. In late February, another candidate, Keith Antigiovanni, also officially withdrew.

A third Place 2 candidate, Mark Osborne, said he is also withdrawing from the race, though it wasn’t clear if it was too late for his name to be removed from the ballot. As of Wednesday, his application does not say it was withdrawn on the Denton ISD website.

Osborne said that after talking to other candidates, “it was obvious that they are way ahead of where I am in the campaign, and I decided that I’m not prepared to make a go at it.”

That leaves two remaining candidates for Place 2: Sheryl English, a realtor from Denton, and Amy Bundgus, a leadership executive from Lantana. Osborne said that after speaking to Bundgus about her platform, he will support her campaign.

“I think a lot of what Amy is running on is in line with some of my concerns,” Osborne said, adding that one of those issues is college and career preparation. “I teach at community colleges and see students come in unprepared for the careers they’re looking into. I think there’s too much socialization going on in schools, and they need to be focusing on the three Rs.

“Amy has the right focused vision, background, and knowledge to make the right choices and decisions necessary to address the critical issues and improvements and to ensure the essential skills and educational outcomes of each student for their future career and life-long learning endeavors. Amy Bundgus is the right candidate for this position to assure Denton ISD is a model educational institution.”

Antigiovanni is also endorsing Bundgus to fill the seat.

“She has the right vision, work experience and relevant ideas to make the necessary changes that need to be made at the grassroots level to tackle the difficult issues currently facing the Denton public schools, students, parents, teachers and residents,” said Antigiovanni. “Change needs to start somewhere and Amy Bundgus is the right candidate for this position.”