Sade Fashokun

Sade Fashokun is a member of the Leander Independent School District in Texas, representing Place 5. She assumed office in 2021. Her current term ends in 2028.

Fashokun ran for re-election to the Leander Independent School District to represent Place 5 in Texas. She won in the general election on November 5, 2024.

Fashokun completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. Click here to read the survey answers.

Fashokun was appointed to the board on October 7, 2021, to replace James MacKay.^[1]

Biography

Sade Fashokun earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Lagos in 1992. She earned a graduate degree from the Tepper School of Business at Carnegie Mellon University in 1995. She earned a J.D. from the Seattle University School of Law in 2008.^[2]

Elections

2024

General election

General election for Leander Independent School District Place 5

Incumbent Sade Fashokun defeated Gerald Prater in the general election for Leander Independent School District Place 5 on November 5, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Sade Fashokun (Nonpartisan)	55.9	39,514
	Submit photo	Gerald Prater (Nonpartisan)	44.1	31,195

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 70,709
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Endorsements

Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Fashokun in this election.

2022

General election

Special general election for Leander Independent School District Place 5

Incumbent Sade Fashokun defeated Shawn Leege and Kevin Leverenz in the special general election for Leander Independent School District Place 5 on November 8, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Sade Fashokun (Nonpartisan)	42.8	26,258
	Submit photo	Shawn Leege (Nonpartisan)	34.2	21,005
	Submit photo	Kevin Leverenz (Nonpartisan)	23.0	14,143

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source 1 Source 2	Total votes: 61,406
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Endorsements

To view Fashokun's endorsements in the 2022 election, please click here.

Campaign themes

2024

Ballotpedia survey responses

Sade Fashokun completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Fashokun's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

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Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

My name is Sade Fashokun and I am an immigrant from Nigeria. I moved to the US with a Bachelors degree in Computer Science, and later earned an MBA and JD. I worked in the tech industry for over 20 years and I am currently a small business owner. My love for a well-educated community and my passion to help students succeed and help teachers in the classroom, led me to various volunteer roles in the district for the past 10 years. I started my Leander ISD volunteer journey as a Literacy Partner even before my kids were of school age. I was a mentor, math tutor, classroom helper, PTA Treasurer & President, coach for Math Pentathlon & Destination Imagination, and I served on various committees - Site-Based Planning Committee, School Health Advisory Council (SHAC), and Bond Oversight. My children have attended LISD schools since they were of school age and currently attend CPMS and CPHS. I have lived in Cedar Park with my family for the past decade and, if re-elected, I will be the only trustee residing in Cedar Park.

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

Investing in facilities and programs: Our schools should be places of learning with engaged students and hubs of innovation. I support optimizing facilities, constructing new schools, strengthening existing programs, and adding innovative programs to help students excel academically, socially, and emotionally in a safe and inclusive environment. I will also use data and audits to ensure efficient and effective operations and programs.
Listening and helping the community advocate for their kids: Our community thrives when everyone’s voice is heard. I am known for being responsive and accessible, ensuring that students, educators, and families are partners in decision-making.
Strong public schools for all: Every child deserves access to a high-quality public education. I will advocate for increased public school funding, teacher pay raises, and the resources and programs needed to ensure all students succeed.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

I am particularly passionate about public school funding in Texas. Proper funding is a foundation for hiring and retaining educators, enhancing student services, keeping schools safe, and improving program quality and academic outcomes for every student.

What characteristics or principles are most important for an elected official?

Collaboration: My track record of engaging with students, educators, families, and lawmakers demonstrates that I value collaboration, communication, accessibility, and responsiveness.

Ethical: I demonstrate a high standard of ethics as a trustee and abide by the Leander ethical principles.

Long-term vision & planning: My attention to optimizing school facilities and creating innovative, engaging student programs demonstrates a forward-thinking approach. I use the district guiding documents and strategic plan to help lead the community toward progress.

Advocacy to benefit all: I am a strong advocate for public schools, support increased funding for public education, and oppose school vouchers that direct public funds to private schools. Additional funding will pay for government mandates and enhance opportunities for all students across the district.

What qualities do you possess that you believe would make you a successful officeholder?

I am a good listener and committed to ethical leadership. I actively seek input from students, teachers, staff, families, and the community. I approach decision-making using analytical and critical thinking skills, and with a calm, level-headed mindset. I bring a wealth of knowledge from my extensive educational and professional background and vast volunteer experience in Leander ISD.

What do you believe are the core responsibilities for someone elected to this office?

A school board member’s role is to provide effective governance and oversight that align with the district’s guiding documents, reflecting transparency and accountability. A school board member should refrain from getting involved in the day-to-day responsibilities of educators, staff, and administrators. The school board hires and evaluates performance of the superintendent in the day-to-day operations of the district. The school board develops policies for district operations to run smoothly and according to the law. Academic oversight includes approving instructional materials and establishing and monitoring various goals and metrics pertaining to student performance and college, career, and military readiness. Financial oversight includes adopting the budget, monitoring expenditures and monitoring internal audits to ensure programs and operations are efficient and effective. Infrastructure oversight includes ensuring safe learning environments and optimized facility maintenance and usage using rezoning, allocation of programs/resources, and construction of new facilities. Compliance oversight includes ensuring the district complies with federal and state educational laws. A school board member should advocate for adequate funding for public education and serve as a liaison between the district and the community.

Who are your constituents?

Students, educators and staff, families, and the community are all impacted by decisions made by the school board.

How would you support the diverse needs of your district’s students, faculty, staff, and community?

The strategic plan covers all these groups and should be properly implemented. For example, the office of Educational Access, and associated board policies, have a pivotal role in ensuring every student has access to a high-quality education. I serve as an Educational Access Ambassador, using best practices and data to identify and address the needs of every student and teacher. Students should have a safe and inclusive learning environment. Teachers should be properly paid, trained and equipped to be effective in the classroom. Families and the community should be engaged as stakeholders in their students’ learning.

How will you build relationships with members of the broader community? Which groups, organizations, stakeholders will you specifically target?

The broader community includes students, educators, families, local businesses, community residents, nonprofit organizations. I attend community events, respond to emails, keep the public informed via social media, listen to student voices at student council meetings, and attend PTA meetings. I use these collaborative engagement opportunities to get to know people, keep people informed on issues, listen to their concerns, help advocate for their needs, and show them how to advocate for their students’ needs. I encourage people to serve as student mentors and help students and teachers where possible, for example as a Literacy Partner.

What constitutes good teaching? How will you measure this? How will you support advanced teaching approaches?

Good teaching is effective, engaging, and individualized to students, delivered by teachers who are well-versed in the subject matter and in delivery to students. Good teaching occurs in a safe environment free from distraction. Good teaching involves continuous improvement, relevant professional development, mentoring, and teachers planning, reflecting and collaborating in Professional Learning Communities (PLCs). I support listening to teachers and provide the training and resources they need to succeed, and continued recognition of teacher excellence and best practices. The district is implementing deeper learning so students can master the same content using exposure across different subjects. The district is also rolling out the “stand up” method for students to be more engaged in math. The district revamped the science curriculum to be more hands-on. Results can be continuously measured according to the Community-Based Accountability System (CBAS) and formative and summative assessments with timely feedback to students and families so they can work with teachers on students’ goals and growth.

In what areas would you like to expand curriculum? For example, do you see a need for advanced technical training or apprenticeships? What sort of innovative programming would you advance if given the opportunity?

The community can help determine innovative academies that are relevant to the future success of students. The administration should work with the Long-Range Planning Committee (LRPC) to understand the current catalog of innovative programs and CTE certifications in the district, see if some schools already meet (or are close to meeting) the criteria for a specialized/innovative/themed school, leverage committee work from the 2018-19 school year and refresh it to determine what new programs, or academic themes, can be implemented and over what timeline. For example, strengthen existing International Baccalaureate (IB) programs – Primary Years & Diploma Programs. The community, through the LRPC, can advise on whether to add a Middle Years program to feeder patterns. There are several more program options to be considered.

What strategies or plans would you advance to ensure the schools are properly funded?

Texas public schools have been chronically underfunded in several areas. I encourage educating the community on the dire situation so they can be engaged with the legislature and vote accordingly. I will encourage community members join local PTAs (there is strength in numbers) and participate in Rally Day at the Capitol. I will continue to engage my legislators, educating them on school finance and advocating for fully funding public schools. I will also encourage them to reject vouchers as these divert public funds to private institutions – a scheme that has been tried in several states, is fraught with problems, and does not increase student outcomes.

The Special Education Allotment has not been properly funded in decades, causing the district to self-fund by over $30 million. The Basic Allotment has been stagnant for at least 5 years, causing the district to self-fund pay increases and cost escalations. The legislature imposes mandates that are not properly funded. For example, the requirement to offer full day Pre-K is funded only at half-day. The requirement to employ an armed guard at every campus is funded only at a fraction of the cost.

What principles drive your policies for safety in schools?

The strategic plan calls for a learning environment where every learner feels safe and included. This includes supporting mental health needs, providing social-emotional learning, addressing bullying and behavior issues, equipping and supporting teachers on classroom management.
The legislature has mandated safety and security updates. I have supported bonds to implement security updates, including technology solutions. I have also supported the recommendation by local law enforcement agencies to start a Leander ISD police department with officers and marshals.

Describe your ideal learning environment for students.

An ideal learning environment is one that enables every student to reach their full potential and enables every student to achieve the Graduate Profile. It includes highly engaged students, actively learning from real life applications and accommodating different learning styles and abilities. It includes diverse materials, culturally responsive instruction, and social-emotional learning to benefit every student. High expectations are set for students, and with help they take responsibility in setting goals, monitoring growth, and achieving goals. An ideal learning environment is also one that stimulates critical thinking and has a variety of innovative opportunities for students to find their passions.

What will you do to build a relationship with parents in the district?

I have a reputation for being engaging, responsive, and accessible. Some of the ways I engage include responding to communication and being active on social media, attending community events, helping parents advocate, joining PTAs and attending PTA meetings, appointing community members with diverse backgrounds to committees, and soliciting community members for input on impactful activities and decisions.

What are your preferred strategies for faculty, staff, and administration recruitment?

Set recruitment goals and determine actions based on those goals. For example, it is important to have diverse educators and leaders, as we have a very diverse community of students, teachers and staff, and families. There has been improvement in this area with recruitment occurring at schools and events with large pools of diverse candidates. It is also important to recruit a good mix of new and seasoned professionals, and in some cases, we develop our own in-house. The pay, benefits, climate and culture, training, mentorships, a school board that cares, are some important features to highlight to prospective hires.

What are your views on financial transparency and government accountability?

These are expected and required where public funds are allocated and are important for public trust. However, if vouchers to send public funds to private schools are implemented, the government will not be able to require private schools have all their board meetings and financial statements be made public. The government will also not be able to require the private schools implement STAAR testing.

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

2022

Sade Fashokun completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2022. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Fashokun's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

Expand all | Collapse all

Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

I'm an immigrant from Nigeria who moved to the US almost 30 years ago with a BS in Computer Science. I obtained an MBA and JD and spent over 20 years of a corporate career in the tech industry, leaving after 10 years as a Patent Attorney. I'm now a small business owner.

I'm married and have two kids who have always attended Leander ISD schools and are currently in middle school. I started volunteering in the district before they were school-aged. I was a Literacy Partner, math tutor, student mentor, coach for Math Pentathlon, Destination Imagination, and Hour of Code. I also served as PTA Treasurer and President, and on district committees SHAC and Bond Oversight. I love to help students succeed and help teachers in the classroom.

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

I am best suited to continue as a board member. I have demonstrated a quick grasp of complex issues such as public school finance, a good listener who engages with all members of the community, one who takes a level-headed and thoughtful approach to issues while considering competing demands and constraints, and one who identifies numerous issues for legislative advocacy. I am a board member who has demonstrated my commitment to helping students succeed and to helping teachers in the classroom, with a longtime investment in the district.
I worked diligently with the administration to bring substitute teachers in-house and increase their pay from the lowest to among the highest in the area. Supported our educators with a 5% raise and educating the public on supporting Propositions A & B - good for students, good for educators, good for the community and taxpayers!
I have visited over 20 schools in my first year to see student learning in action and make connections with the educators. This helps with decision-making.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

I am passionate about advocacy on these issues:

1) Increase the basic allotment (which has been fixed since 2019) and add cost of living adjustments.
2) Provide funding based on enrollment instead of attendance. Texas is one of six states that funds on attendance. Facilities are built and staffed for student enrollment. The district loses funding when students are absent for any reason, including illness. Teachers are best situated to understand reasons for absences and do take time to help students catch up when they return.
3) Simplify ballot language for bonds and propositions. For example, remove the requirement that a bond is a tax increase where the district is not increasing the tax rate.
4) Fund unfunded mandates like full-day PreK, and ease the mandated burdens on teachers like HB4545 tutoring requirement.

5) Provide funding to increase teacher and staff pay.

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

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Candidate

Leander Independent School District Place 5

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Footnotes

↑ Community Impact, "Leander ISD board appoints Sade Fashokun to fill vacant seat," October 8, 2021
↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on October 20, 2022

[1] Community Impact, "Leander ISD board appoints Sade Fashokun to fill vacant seat," October 8, 2021

[bio-2] Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on October 20, 2022

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Sade Fashokun

Contents

Biography

Elections

2024

General election

General election for Leander Independent School District Place 5

Endorsements

2022

General election

Special general election for Leander Independent School District Place 5

Endorsements

Campaign themes

2024

Ballotpedia survey responses

2022

See also

External links

Footnotes

Information about voting

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