A Highland Park Independent School District (HPISD) board candidate is seeking unique solutions to better serve students and parents in his district, starting with firing the superintendent.

“I promise if I am the one elected, at my first meeting, I will propose a resolution to replace our superintendent with a classical educator — someone who will implement a proven curriculum and prioritize our district’s resources,” Spencer Siino said at a recent school board candidate forum in Dallas.

Siino is running for a trustee position on the school board at HPISD against Ellen Lee. Incumbent Edward Herring is not seeking re-election.

Superintendent Tom Trigg is the target of Siino’s ire. Trigg currently leads HPISD, a school district of about 7,000 students that is rated as “high-performing,” Texas Scorecard reports.

However, Siino believes that the HPISD’s standards have been reduced, claiming its superintendent has followed a national trend of putting the special interest agenda promoted by education bureaucrats ahead of traditional education.

Trigg and previous administrators, Siino wrote on his campaign site, “put the district on a path of a technology-driven, political values-focused approach, centered around ‘Professional Development’ rather than traditional liberal arts primary education.”

Siino said he feels the school district needs a superintendent who can genuinely partner with the Board to fulfill the community’s goals.

“The vast majority of Superintendents across the country come to the job with a PhD in ‘Educational Leadership,'” the candidate wrote. “Unlike a true scholar … a PhD in a pseudo-science like Educational Leadership studies Critical Race Theory, the nuances of youth gangs and how to interrogate children without a parent present, new and unproven ways of teaching math and reading, EdTech and other specialties that justify the existence of the Ed. Leadership programs but do nothing to serve the interests of the children of Highland Park.”

Siino claimed that if he and Tyler Beeson, also seeking a trustee seat in HPISD, are elected, they will serve as allies on the board and have a better shot at turning things around for the school district.

Beeson added that he thinks the education currently provided by the HPISD does a disservice to its students and their parents.

“I believe all the parents of this community want their children to graduate high school with a strong foundation in academic knowledge and skills that will be relevant throughout their lifetimes,” Siino said at the forum. “A classical educator will return us to a focus on reading, writing, math, science, real history and the classic books, poetry and essays that informed the development of Western Civilization.”

The Dallas Express reached out to Siino’s election opponent, Ellen Lee, and Superintendent Tom Trigg, but neither immediately responded to a request for comment.

Voting information for the HPISD School Board election can be found here.