Trustee's Family Immigration Story Drives Commitment to Boerne ISD's 11,200 Students

Rich Sena's grandparents left their small village in Southern Italy for America with one conviction above all others: education was the path forward. Neither of Sena's parents spoke English when they started school, and formal education was something his grandparents never had, but they understood that learning would give their children and grandchildren a life in this country. Today, Sena serves as Secretary of the Boerne Independent School District Board of Trustees and is seeking re-election in the May 2 school board race, having held the position since 2014 as the district has grown from 7,200 to more than 11,200 students.

"My grandparents, despite their lack of formal education, were constantly stressing the value of education and learning because that was the meal ticket to get ahead in our great nation," Sena said. "I learned two things from my parents that stand out above all else: always be grateful, and always give back to the nation and community that has given us so much opportunity." Sena's own children attended Boerne ISD schools from kindergarten through 12th grade, his daughter still lives in the community, and his grandchildren will soon begin their own years in the same classrooms, making his commitment personal in the most literal sense.

"I feel as my fellow trustees feel - that I have 11,200 children, because that's the number of kids in our district and I care about their future," he said. "No amount of time dedicated to this volunteer position is adequate to support them in achieving their dreams." That sense of obligation extends beyond the boardroom, with Sena having served as President of the Boerne Sunrise Rotary, as a Sunday School teacher at Currey Creek Church, as a board member of the Hill Country Pregnancy Care Center, and as a conservative columnist for the Boerne Star, volunteering across the Hill Country for more than three decades.

"A community can have beautiful parks and great roads, but it cannot truly thrive unless it has strong public schools preparing the next generation," Sena said. "Public education is the great equalizer." Under the current board's leadership, Boerne ISD has maintained its top A-rating from the Texas Education Agency every year since the accountability system was established, a distinction shared by only 31 of the more than 1,200 districts in the state, with the district being the only medium-large district in the San Antonio area to hold that status. Students graduate at a 95 percent rate of readiness for college, career, or military service, well above the state average of 82 percent.

Sena points to those results not as personal accomplishments but as evidence that the community's investment in its schools is working. "It starts with a supportive community, people that believe in the value of education. We have that here in Boerne," he said. "Standards are not what we state. They're what we accept." When his oldest child started at Fabra Elementary in 1992, the district enrolled roughly 3,200 students, and it has nearly quadrupled since, with managing that growth while preserving traditions like the Homecoming Parade, the Boerne Outdoor Academy, and close-knit campus communities being one of the board's central challenges. Early voting for the May 2 election begins April 20, with information available at https://www.senaforbisd.com/.