Grapevine-Colleyville school board

Trustees are elected to three-year terms and are unpaid. Candidates run for specific places on the board but do not represent geographical areas. All seven current trustees live in Colleyville.

Place 5

Incumbent Jesse Rodriguez is unopposed and will keep his seat until 2011.

Place 6

Name: Leon Leal

Age: 43

City: Grapevine

Occupation: Owner of employment agencies

Online: none

Background: Leal has a degree in communications from the University of Oklahoma. He is active on many boards and commissions for the district and the city of Grapevine, including the Park and Recreation Board and Grapevine Youth Wrestling. He was co-chairman of the steering committee for the district's $108 million bond issue in 2005.

About the candidates: "I've always volunteered and been active in the community," Leal said. "It's time for me to step up and take a more active role in the community." Leal said he believes that the current board is doing a good job, but that it is "time for someone from Grapevine to really step up."

"In the next five to 10 years, our community's going to continue to change. I hope that I can contribute to that."

Name: Vince Rosen (incumbent)

Age: 55

City: Colleyville

Occupation: Full-time volunteer

Online: none

Background: Rosen studied business at Georgia Southern University and worked in the technology field for 28 years.

About the candidate: He said he wants to continue to improve the education of the district's children, focusing on technology and getting the schools up-to-date. He said the district's largest challenge is finances. "We're up against the wall," he said, talking about how some the district's tax revenue is sent back to the state in the Robin Hood program. "That's not bad," he said. "But we need to be able to put some of our money toward the education of our children."

Place 7

Name: Mia J. Green

Age: 43

City: Colleyville

Occupation: Director of Fourth Quarter Ministries

Online: none

Background: Green, who has a bachelor's in health education and master's in health administration from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, works as a private consultant on diversity issues. She is a political newcomer who works on the district's diversity council and was inspired to run through her work with that group

About the candidate: "I'm passionate about children's issues," Green said. She said she believes in using data and statistics to drive decision-making. "Parents tend to get very passionate and emotional about issues that involve children, but they don't really look at what's happening statistically," she said.

Name: Jorge Rodriguez

Age: 37

City: Grapevine

Occupation: Electrical engineer for ATX Group in Irving.

Online: www.jorgerodriguez.org

Background: Rodriguez has a bachelor's in electrical engineering from the University of Puerto Rico, a master's in electrical engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a master's in business administration from the University of Dallas.

About the candidate: "I'm passionate about the education of kids," he said. "Before I had kids I was never really touched by the schools. If I had known, I would have volunteered more." Rodriguez, no relation to current Trustee Jesse Rodriguez, said he wants to improve communication between parents and schools and grow the community volunteer base. He also holds the goal of preparing all students to earn a four-year college degree.