Port Arthur Firefighter Charlie Lewis Jr. is making a second run for a seat on Port Arthur ISD Board of Trustees. Lewis, 32, ran unsuccessfully in last year’s trustee race and is back again with a campaign to support the administration, teachers and counselors of PAISD.

The 1993 graduate of Thomas Jefferson High School is excited about the district’s new schools that were made possible with the passing of a $189 million bond in November 2007. But even with the money, Lewis said ‘you can’t put a price on children’s education.’

“It’s nice to say ‘education is the key’ and ‘let’s help our kids’ but you can’t put a price on our children’s education,” he said.

Lewis said, though, that an advantage the new schools bring is technology.

“My age group and above, we have our jobs,” he said. “But the students need to have computers accessible to them and to get into technology.”

With the bond money, plans are in place to replace existing dilapidated schools with new ones. Some people, Lewis said, are concerned about that. Lewis attended DeQueen Elementary School and said although the school is now new, it’s still DeQueen. But old schools have mold and structural problems that can harm a child’s health.

Considering the job of Superintendent Johnny Brown, Lewis said Brown came into the leadership position in the district at a difficult time.

“He knew the school board had a lot of power and had run off the previous superintendent, Willis Mackey,” he said. “He (Brown) is doing what he can with what he has to work with.”

Lewis said the school board also needs to back the administration, teachers and counselors, especially when it comes to discipline.

“Some of these kids are in and out of teen court,” he said. “We need a strong backing from the school board.”

Security in PAISD schools is another important issue for Lewis.

“The school board needs to put security in place and get PAISD a police department,” he said.

After graduation from high school in 1993, Lewis was in the U.S. Army until 1998. He later worked as a corrections officer and attended Lamar University. He worked as an animal control officer with the city of Port Arthur before being hired as a firefighter.

Lewis is single with four children, three of which will be attending PAISD school’s in the upcoming year. He is running independently and not in conjunction with another candidate.