Does Irving ISD board represent its constituents?

By Jackie Hardy
NDG Contributing Writer

For those who are living in Irving, it is no mystery why there is tension within the minority community after the recent city and Irving Independent School District (Irving ISD) board of trustees’ elections. Steven Jones of Place 1 and Gail Wells of Place 2 narrowly beat incumbents Nancy Jones and AD Jenkins, the only two African Americans who were serving on the Irving ISD board of trustees. Former Irving ISD board member Ruben Franco is the only Hispanic ever to serve in the district’s history.

The demographics of Irving are as diverse as the corporate headquarters that call the city home; but what some residents are questioning, particularly in the Hispanic community, is how an all-white school board can make decisions in the best interest of a district when more than 80 percent of its students are minorities with Hispanics making up 71 percent of that student population.

According to recent 2010 U.S. Census data, minorities in Irving make up 69.2 percent with Caucasians comprising 30.8 percent of the total 216,290 population. The data shows a minority-majority and what remains to be seen is will this new data move Irving ISD toward a single-member district.

Over the past month, the board of trustees in closed executive sessions has been meeting with legal council to discuss what its next course of action will be. According to school board president Heather Ashley, there is no set timeline of when they will have a decision.

“We are in the process of gathering as much information as we can and asking our lawyers questions and talking to demographers before making our decision. I don’t see this as a very fast decision,” Ashley said in a phone interview.

According to the Irving ISD Public Records Office, $247,058.22 was paid to Bickerstaff Heath Delgado Acosta LLP for legal expenses related to the Manuel Benavidez lawsuit from July 2008 to June 2011.

To pursue this case in the courts could mean taxpayers absorbing more cost as well as adding more financial challenges to the already strained budget. A few city leaders have expressed their confidence that the board will come to a decision of single-member districts thus avoiding further legal cost on this issue.

“We feel confident the board will approve a single-member district and will continue to show our public support of this change,” said Tony Grimes, president of the Irving NAACP.

Data from the 2000 U.S. Census and 2007 American Community Survey were two critical components in the case brought against the school board by Benavidez. The plaintiff claimed the current at-large voting system denied Hispanic voters representation thus violating Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The U.S. District Judge Sidney Fitzwater ruled in favor of Irving ISD, but did leave the legal door open if 2010 U.S. Census data showed a majority of Citizens Voting Age Population (CVAP) among Hispanics.

Fitzwater ruled Benavidez was unable to prove the Hispanic minority group in the school district is “sufficiently large and geographically compact to constitute a majority in a single member district.” Based on 2000 census numbers, Fitzwater said, 60 percent of Hispanics residing in the district were non-citizens making Hispanics only 17.3 percent of the CVAP.

“The children of those families whose parents were not born in the United States are U.S. citizens and out of the 77 percent I think that 45 percent are children who are older than 18 years old and they are the ones who are going to make the difference, but how can we make it if we don’t have nobody representing on the school board,” said Father Pedro Portillo, pastor of Santa Maria de Guadalupe Church in Irving.

Portillo said he feels confident the 2010 US Census data will show these increases among Hispanics who are within the CVAP and therefore; prove single-member districts are warranted.

Emotions also ran high with voters over the recent proposed changes to the district’s Bilingual Education Programs. Steven Jones and Wells campaigned to implement a structured English immersion alternative to the BEP for pre-K through grade five and wanted to change the 50/50 bilingual program where 50 percent of classes are taught in English and 50 percent taught in Spanish to an 80/20 split for the 2011-2012 school year. The board voted against both changes.

“The reason we voted for the 50/50 bilingual program because we had received reports from school administrators that our students were still struggling as they went on to the next level (i.e. middle school),” former Place 1 board member Jones said in a telephone interview. “I work in education and have worked with English as a Second Language students for many, many years and I know that students perform better when they have a better grasp on their native language.”

Jones said, “Being a minority person definitely will give you an advantage of understanding the culture. Even if your constituents have somebody like them -for lack of a better term-on the board might make that person more willing to come out, ask questions and get involved—”I don’t know because I have seen it happen with me.”

“I think the most important things you are going to be willing to embrace as a culture, race, group…because ultimately what is important is educating our students.”

Ashley said, “Personally, I believe a diverse board would help us to make sure we include all aspects of our community. I encourage a community where everybody will talk to each other and shares what they are concerned about.”

Irving minorities are doing just that: sharing their concerns of having more local government reflect the human landscape of the community. Many community leaders have shared that they believe the time has come again where Irving ISD must respond and warn officials they are watching to see what will be the legacy left to future generations.