Juan Miguel Arredondo believes there’s a spirit of solidarity in San Marcos that sets his Central Texas college town apart, even as right-wing culture warriors seek to force a wedge between neighbors.
“When there’s a crisis, Superman isn’t coming,” Arredondo, 34, told the Texas Observer during a phone interview late last year. “We have to save ourselves, and so that’s what we do.”
A fifth-generation native of the region, Arredondo served on the San Marcos Consolidated Independent School District from 2015 to 2023, and he was again elected to the board in 2024 after a year spent working as the chief of staff for state Representative Erin Zweiner, an outspoken progressive legislator and member of the LGBTQ Caucus. In addition, he’s president and CEO of the United Way of Hays and Caldwell Counties.
Beyond those achievements, he’s also the only openly gay member of the San Marcos school board. Arredondo came out publicly in 2017 during Pride month, about two years into his first term.
“I had one of my biggest supporters call me, compliment me on my bravery, and then immediately pivot to say, ‘It’s just so unfortunate that you’ll never get reelected,’” he recalled. “That was the first experience, right out of the gate, of folks’ perceptions of what it means to be queer or gay or LGBTQ in Texas.”
Time has disproved that prediction. In 2024, his election was uncontested. Now, when Republican operatives arrive to propose book bans or attacks on diversity, equity, and inclusion programs in the local schools, Arredondo’s firm but kind presence helps remind his fellow trustees what’s at stake for some of the most marginalized students. “It does not escape me that my colleagues have to have those conversations with an openly gay man next to them, and I think that’s incredibly important because we’re not talking about this in the abstract.”
Meanwhile, San Marcos and its families face challenges that are more substantial, and more dire, than a trans student using their preferred pronouns or anything found between the covers of a hardback.
“Not once has a family been in crisis because of transgender bathrooms,” Arredondo told the Observer. “It’s families not being able to afford rent or put food on the table, issues with unemployment or lack of access to jobs that pay living wages.”
San Marcos, population around 70,000, is a community between Austin and San Antonio that’s anchored by Texas State University and home to a large working-class population. “I think I’m aware of two transgender students in San Marcos CISD, but I have 60 percent of my families who are at or below the poverty line.”
“STUDENTS INSIDE AND OUTSIDE THE CLASSROOM DESERVE TO BE THEMSELVES.”
Arredondo believes that San Martians have a knack for coming together through their shared struggles. A close-knit community solidarity has made it possible to weather a series of crises, from natural ones like the COVID-19 pandemic to human-made disasters like the temporary loss of food stamps during the government shutdown in the fall of 2025. According to Arredondo’s figures, about one-third of the roughly 8,200 students in San Marcos CISD come from families who temporarily lost SNAP benefits.
To make up the gaps, San Marcos CISD teamed up with the Hays County Food Bank to ensure that students and their families wouldn’t go hungry. Their experience during the pandemic taught Arredondo and the other school board members that any crisis like this one leaves lasting effects, from missed rent to increased stress on nonprofits and their workers—reverberations that don’t disappear overnight. “Even if the spigot, so to speak, is turned back on, we know there’s going to be delays. We know this is going to have residual effects.”
Arredondo’s role as president of the local United Way made it easier to coordinate funding for aid. He said the board plans to enter into a long-term partnership with the food bank to keep students and families fed.
Anne Halsey, in her 11th year as a trustee on the school board and the current board president, said Arredondo has always been a champion of inclusivity, especially for vulnerable students.
“Miguel, since I’ve known him, has always been committed to ensuring that our school district serves all of our students and that it is a … welcoming environment for everybody—for kids, for teachers, for staff,” Halsey told the Observer. “That has been consistent in the entire time I’ve known him.”
Halsey is especially proud of improved support for students’ mental health since the two began their shared tenure. “We had one social worker that served the entire district,” she recalled. Now, every campus has counselors, and clinical psychologists are available to consult with students when needed. “Every kid needs mental health support,” Halsey said, but the board is very aware that LGBTQ+ students face higher rates of mental illness or mental health crises.
More recently, a slate of laws has come down from the Texas Legislature, such as last session’s so-called “parental rights” measure, Senate Bill 12, which mandates that schools reject diversity, equity, and inclusion programs and adds new restrictions on how schools support the mental health of their students, especially trans kids. Arredondo said the interference from the Capitol was unpopular even among the board’s more conservative members. “Time and time again, we’re having issues around funding to make sure our families have the basic necessities they need to survive, yet the Legislature is passing laws about what pronouns or what names [students] can use.”
The Texas Education Agency still hasn’t provided clear instructions on how to implement the law; in the meantime, Arredondo and the rest of the school board are working with legal counsel to ensure they balance implementation of the new restrictions with still doing everything they can for their kids.
“Our educators and staff continue to show up for students every day, supporting them as whole people and meeting them where they are based on their individual needs,” Arredondo said in a January email. “As a district, our focus continues to be on doing right by students and families while navigating an evolving and often unclear legal landscape.”
Jacob Reyes, the news and rapid response coordinator for the national LGBTQ+ advocacy organization GLAAD, told the Observer that leaders like Arredondo help improve outcomes for “students and schools” by ensuring every child feels they belong.
“Students inside and outside the classroom deserve to be themselves and be safe so they have every opportunity to learn,” Reyes wrote by email. “LGBTQ students in Texas should know that their elected officials will fight for them at every level of government.”
For Arredondo, his time on the school board is an example of the power of local politics to get things done. “Your city council member, your school board trustee, your county commissioner, they can make some stuff happen. And I think people getting more involved at a local level is incredibly important.”
