Richardson ISD At-Large Place 6 Trustee Eric Eager will run for reelection this May, the two-term trustee told the Advocate in a recent interview.
Eric Eager
The computer software firm CEO first won his seat in 2020 and successfully fought off challenger Blake Sawyer in a close race in 2023 to secure a second term. Now, Eager is looking to make his mark on RISD for another three years with a third term.
The filing period for the May 3 board election opened on Jan. 14. As Lake Highlands-based trustees Regina Harris and Rachel McGowan both won reelection in 2025, Eager’s will be the lone race neighbors have to consider on the ballot.
“We established a vision that was going to transform (the district),” Eager said in the interview. “Everyone is going to meet or exceed their growth goals, including our teachers and administration. I mean, there are so many things that we’ve been able to accomplish in the last three years. We want to keep our cell phone policy. That made national news. It, while it was extremely difficult, is having such good effects on our teachers and our kids. I can just keep going on, the list is pretty extensive of what this board and our team have been able to accomplish.”
Eager says one of his proudest accomplishments includes the passage of the 2025-2026 budget, which provided significant pay raises for experienced teachers and the introduction of free employee x, both of which he says encourage retention.
He also points to the passage of RISD’s 1.4 billion bond package in 2025 as a promising sign for the district and something he’s especially proud of. While both Lake Highlands learning community junior highs have already transitioned to a middle school model following Bond 2021-funded rebuilds, the new package will clear the way for the remaining junior highs to make the jump.
“An extra year of middle school is going to give them an extra year to get prepped for high school. It gives them more exposure to a number of other programs, such as fine arts,” Eager said. “You had band directors that were having to drive to every elementary school; now they’ll get to be able to do that in each one of the middle schools.”
He says he’s been considering a reelection for some time and decided to run to help usher the district through a time of change.
“I want to make sure I continue doing a good job for the community and keeping an eye on what is coming up that are going to be opportunities and challenges for kids, and with vouchers coming in, with AI changing what the future and jobs can mean for a lot of things,” he said.
The district has faced challenges in recent years. And as someone sworn in during the peak of the pandemic, he’s seen plenty of them. RISD has passed multiple consecutive deficit budgets in the last three years, closed four schools in 2023 as part of Project RightSize and faces declining enrollment fueled by low birthrates and housing constraints.
After a tough legislative system which saw Education Savings Accounts become state law, Eager – who refers to himself as a “recovering CPA” – says RISD faces an uphill battle as the budget cycle gets underway, even with added funding from the passage of SB 2.
“We’re still going to have to make some tough decisions, I think, from a budget cycle, we’re just going to have to make sure there’s going to be some things we have to tweak and make some adjustments on,”Eager said. “Because what happened with the state, while we were grateful for any raise in the amount of funding, but the challenge we had is it wasn’t enough.”
Outside of the horseshoe, Eager is the father of two Richardson High School graduates and serves as CEO of 4impactdata, a software firm that specializes in connecting accounting firms with AI guidance. He says he wants his next term to set the students and the district up for success in changing times.
“(The goal) the next three years is to equip our kids for how to handle this new AI era that we’re all living in, but also set the foundation for future boards,” he said. “It’s still a difficult job, but my hope is that we make it a little bit easier, that we tackle the issues that need to be tackled before the next board comes into play.”
The filing period for the May election closes Feb. 13. Eager said that he is unsure if he will face a challenger this cycle.