Spring Branch ISD officials plan to appeal last month’s federal ruling that the district violated the Voting Rights Act of 1965 by holding at-large elections, the board president said Monday night after an executive session discussion.
While awaiting the appeal, the district must comply with the court order by choosing a preferred plan for how to create geographic representation districts on the board. The district’s attorneys will submit an election map to the court on June 6 with five single-member districts and two at-large positions, Board President Board President Lisa Alpe wrote in a letter to the community Tuesday.
“Drafts of this map remain confidential right now because they have not been fully finalized. The final proposed map will be published on SBISD’s website and social media channels when it is filed with the court on June 6. If the court approves SBISD’s proposed map, the district will then develop a transition plan to adjust its election procedures to implement the new system,” Alpe’s statement says.
It would likely not be finalized until next school year.
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Alpe wrote to the community last week that the district appeal to defend its at-large system.
“The at-large system promotes teamwork and reduces territorialism. It ensures that EVERY trustee is accountable to EVERY student, parent, and constituent, ALL the time. It discourages trustees from fighting over resources for “their” part of the district. The voters recognize that SBISD is one school district, and the current Board intends to fight to keep it that way. We will respect the will of the voters and appeal this case at the first opportunity,” the district statement said.
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Once the district sends the details of their plan back to the court, the plaintiff can file one round of objections to the plan, but then they will have to settle on the districts, at which point Spring Branch ISD will be prohibited from conducting at-large elections in the future and must have elected trustees represent geographic districts, barring any effects of the appeal process.
The appeal will not cost the district money because the legal fees are covered by the Texas Association of School Boards’ pool risk, officials said.
See here for the previous update. I was told about this decision last week by Diane Alexander, who attended the board meeting that followed the verdict and the May election. I didn’t see a news story before Tuesday, I suppose they hadn’t formally announced the decision before then. Barring action from the appeals court, the next election should feature the new districts. I’ll be keeping an eye on it.