The Clear Creek Independent School District election deserves your attention! Area voters will have the opportunity from now until May 11 to determine two school board positions and to decide whether the Clear Creek Independent School District can use new bond money to repair and update district facilities. Early voting continues until May 7, although polls will not be open Sunday, May 5. Because finding your particular polling place for your precinct on May 11 may be difficult, it's a good idea to vote early at any of the locations below.

Dawn McCarty from Casa Juan Diego, a Catholic Charity in Houston, will be the guest speaker at the BAND meeting on Wednesday, May 8. She will discuss the work that Casa Juan Diego does for immigrants in the Houston area and current immigration legislation. The meeting begins at 7 p.m. at the Harris County Courthouse Bay Area Annex at 16603 Buccaneer.

Clear Creek Independent School District (CCISD) superintendent Greg Smith will be the guest speaker at the BAND meeting at 7 p.m. Wednesday, April 10 at the Harris County Courthouse Bay Area Annex at 16603 Buccaneer. The topic will be the upcoming district bond election and other news about public education. BAND members will also vote to elect new club officers to serve two-year terms.

If you were a deputy voter registrar last year, your old appointment expired on Dec. 31, 2012. To continue your good work, you will need to attend a new training class if you haven’t already. There is one offered nearby on Wednesday, March 27 at El Franco Lee Community Center near the Beltway 8 (9500 Hall Rd., Houston 77089) from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.

The originally planned guest speaker for the Wednesday, March 13 BAND meeting has changed. The speakers will be two Clear Creek Independent School Board of Trustees candidates for At-Large Position B: incumbent Ann Hammond and challenger Nick Long, a tea party / Libertarian. A portion of the school board seats and a bond are up for election Saturday, May 11.

Democrats talked about public education at the February BAND meeting, and now Bay Area Association of Democratic (BAAD) Women will continue the conversation at two upcoming events.

On Thursday, Feb. 21, Dee Scott, Clear Creek Independent School District (CCISD) Board of Trustees member, will discuss funding education with the focus on federal mandates and the effects on local school districts. Social networking begins at 6:30 p.m., followed by the meeting at 7, at the Bay Area Community Center in Clear Lake Park (across the street from the lake), 5002 NASA Parkway, Seabrook.

BAAD Women has also arranged a bipartisan town hall meeting about public education at 6:30 p.m. on Friday, March 1 at the Bay Area Community Center. Guest panelists are: Clear Creek Independent School District (CCISD) Superintendent Dr. Greg Smith; Republican State Rep. John Davis; Martha Griffin, educator and National Science Teachers Association District XIII director; and at least one CCISD student.