The verdict is finally in as Irving ISD moves to adopt a 5-2 single-member/at-large mixed voting system

By: Jackie Hardy, NDG Contributing Writer

Irving Independent School District (IISD) held public hearings at the following high schools: Irving, MacArthur, and Nimitz to allow residents the opportunity to express their support or opposition to change the existing at-large election process.

The recent debates over changing the current at-large voting system to single-member districts have been passionate as well as intense over the last few months. This debate also has considerable significance as it could potentially set precedence for other cities to model facing this same issue.

Currently all seven Board of Trustee seats are elected by an at-large voting process. Outrage within the minority community resurfaced after African-American school board members Nancy Jones, formerly of Place 1 and A.D. Jenkins, formerly of Place 2 were replaced by their opponents Steven Jones and Gail Conder Wells, who are White. Concerns specifically within the minority community sparked a hot-debate on how an all-white school board could effectively oversee the needs of a district where over 80 percent of their student population is minorities. Hispanics comprise a little over 70 percent of the student population, according to the Irving ISD website of the ethnic breakdown of its student body.

Manuel Benavidez, Irving resident, filed a lawsuit against Irving ISD in 2010 claiming the at-large voting election process used by the district violated Section II of the Voters Right Act of 1965. Benavidez lost the case, but the presiding Judge Sidney A. Fitzwater concluded after results from the 2010 Census are released Benavidez “may be able to obtain the relief he seeks – trustees elected from single-member districts – without the need for another lawsuit.”

“Judge Fitzwater made it clear that the results from the 2010 Census would be important in any future considerations about this matter. Hence it was prudent for us to take the time and wait until the 2010 Census was completed. And that is what we did. We waited until we had that data available. And you [referring to the members in the audience] need to understand the 2010 Census was different than pass Censuses. It didn’t provide the same level of detail as the 2000 Census, so we had to wait an additional period of time while that data was developed using the American Community Survey documents. That’s the reason we have been slow in dealing with this,” responded Jerry Christian of Place 6 in last Thursday’s meeting called by the Board of Trustees.

A governing school board that has been slow to implement changes which parallel the change of the human landscape of its district, is a sentiment many community leaders and activist expressed at the public hearings held in the early weeks of January.

“The Irving school district is 103 years old and in those 103 years we have had one Hispanic serve on the school board and to my knowledge only three African Americans. There have been no other ethnicities in its 103 years. It’s time to diversify the school board,” declared Anthony Bond, community activist and founder of the Irving NAACP.

Pastor J. Don George, founding pastor of Calvary Church located in Irving addressed the Trustees during the public hearing at MacArthur High School by stating “I support an electoral system which will give an increased opportunity to people of color to serve on the Board of the Irving ISD. It is to be woefully naïve or horribly racist to believe people of color will diminish the effectiveness of our school board. It’s time to make a change.”

Many opponents for single-member districts feel it is an unfair assumption that racism is the motivation behind their opposition. Several opponents who spoke against single-member districts during the public hearings shared their reasons for opposition to this change.

“I feel like every member of the school board should be accountable to every voter and if we have single-member district system rather its 7-0, 5-2; or however it comes out than there are going to be factions on that Board. There are going to be Trustees that I won’t be able to vote for and certainly won’t be accountable to me or other voters,” added opponent and Irving resident, Bob Harper in a phone interview.

“I am exhausted of hearing how old the District is and how we haven’t had as many perhaps people of color on the school board, in the administration, faculty. All I can tell you is I am a very proud Latina and I am a very proud woman and I haven’t lived yet to see the first female President, but you don’t see me complaining about that, it’s just the way it is. I hope I live that long, but maybe not…,” a comment made by Celeste Gonzales, Irving resident and educator who also believes there are more pressing issues the Board should be addressing like teachers not being able to exercise In School Suspension due to overcrowding.

The debate over moving to single-member districts was not the only topic being discussed in these public hearings. However, the discussion and debate focused on the adoption of the two proposed maps. One map entailed a 5-2 single-member and at-large voting map; the other an all 7 single-member district voting map. According to Heather Ashley, school board President, the two proposed maps were the only viable options in being compliance with the law.

Law versus morality continues to be the underlying debate that many Irving residents, activists, and community leaders based their argument with respect to adopting 7 single-member districts versus the 5-2 single-member/at-large districts. Many expressed it was the morally right thing to implement all single-member districts because it is the only way to ensure a minority can be elected.

Leaders like Irving City Councilmen Dennis Webb of District 3 urged the board to approve single-member district because had it not been for the adoption of single-member districts within the City of Irving he would not have been able to win his current seat as a city councilman.

Asusena Reséndiz, President of Irving Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, also spoke on her personal experience of how having individuals in her life that embraced diversity and inclusion of all people. These individuals helped to open doors to career opportunities and accomplishments for her.

In the special meeting called by the Trustees on January 12, the board voted 6 to 1 to approve a 5-2 single-member/at-large voting district. Based on the new boundaries of the proposed 5-2 map; respectively Districts 4 and 5 reflect a Hispanic majority of Citizen Voting Age Population thus allowing the potential for two seats to be filled by a Hispanic.

Dr. Steven Jones of Place 1 was the only Trustee who voted against the 5-2 proposed voting map. In the meeting Jones expressed his concern that this change would not improve student achievement. Dr. Jones feels the playing field is already leveled, and does not want to limit the candidate pool.

Ronda Huffstetler of Place 7 and Valerie Jones of Place 4 were the only Trustees in support of 7 single-member districts. Both Huffstetler and Jones shared their feelings on why an all single-member district was the right decision. Huffstetler spoke to her own personal experiences that helped her embrace diversity and shared how she came to a truth regarding her own prejudices.

“I am the only board member that has served with all four minorities; not another board member has served with all four of them and isn’t a shame that it took 90 years to have a minority on this board. And I would tell you every time I came to a meeting, and every time I spent time at dinner with them on an educational trip or on a decathlon trip I learned more about different cultures. I learned more about the thought processing and I learned how to be collaborative with other people and I am so grateful. But when I think back about those four, it is so sad to me that we didn’t at any time ever have a white, a black, a Hispanic at the same time sitting at that table discussing the children that are in this community,” Huffstetler said.

Dr. Dana Bedden, the first African American Superintendent in district history, petitioned the audience to remember the students of Irving ISD are the most important component in this debate. Dr. Bedden also had several students from the front-row to stand and encouraged the attendees going forward to remember those seven students and all the other 34,851 students they represent.

“I thought it was really interesting to see just how passionate everyone is about the topic and I think the board members know what they are doing so I trust that the decision they made will help change things for the better,” commented Emily Petrosky, one of the students in attendance at Thursday’s meeting.

The next step for the district is submitting their approved map to the Department