Dallas Independent School District elections (2016)

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2017 → ← 2015
Dallas Independent School District Elections
General election date:
May 7, 2016
Runoff election date:
June 18, 2016
Enrollment (13–14):
159,713 students

Three of the nine seats on the Dallas Independent School District school board were up for by-district general election on May 7, 2016. There was a fourth seat up for special election in District 2 to fill a vacancy. District 4 incumbent Nancy Bingham did not seek re-election. Dustin Marshall and Mita Havlick won the largest vote shares in the District 2 special election over fellow candidates Carlos Marroquin and Suzanne Smith. Because neither Marshall nor Havlick won a majority of the votes in the general election, they faced each other a second time in a runoff election on June 18, 2016, where Marshall won the seat. In District 4, Jaime Resendez defeated Omar Jimenez and Camille White. Incumbent Lew Blackburn won his re-election bid in District 5, while Audrey Pinkerton defeated Isaac Faz to secure the District 7 seat.

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There were no unopposed races in the general election, though only incumbent Lew Blackburn opted to seek re-election for one of the three available seats. Board member Mike Morath vacated his District 2 seat, prompting a special election to be held in conjunction with the general election. Morath was appointed by Gov. Greg Abbott (R) to replace Michael Williams as the commissioner of the Texas Education Agency in December 2015. Candidates Mita Havlick, Carlos Marroquin, Dustin Marshall, and Suzanne Smith vied for the seat. The term expired in May 2017. At that time, the sitting incumbent must file for re-election or vacate the position.

The internal divisions among city council members seeped into the board races when Dallas City Council members, Texas state legislators, and Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings all weighed in on the Dallas ISD trustee elections. Council members that opposed many of the policies of Mayor Rawlings endorsed Pinkerton for District 7, while Rawlings and his supporter state Rep. Rafael Anchia (D) endorsed Faz. Accusations of political posturing also ran into the District 2 race with council member Jennifer Staubach Gates, also a Rawlings supporter and potential mayoral candidate, endorsing Dustin Marshall.

For more information please see: What was at stake?

Elections

Voter and candidate information

The Dallas ISD Board of Trustees is composed of seven members who are elected by district to three-year terms in specifically numbered seats. Candidates file to run for a specific seat, but all voters in the school district are eligible to vote for every seat up for election. Districts 4, 5 and 7 were scheduled for general election on May 7, 2016. A special election was held for a vacancy in District 2. There was no primary election.

Candidates running for the school board must be United States citizens, residents of Texas for at least 12 months and residents of the district for at least six months. Candidates must also be 18 years of age or older and registered to vote.

District 2 (special)

Results

Dallas Independent School District, District 2 Special Election, 1-year term, 2016
Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Dustin Marshall	43.26%	2,719
Mita Havlick	28.08%	1,765
Suzanne Smith	27.33%	1,718
Carlos Marroquin	1.32%	83
Total Votes		6,285
Source: Dallas County Elections, "Unofficial Final Cumulative Results," accessed February 28, 2017

Candidates

Mita Havlick		Dustin Marshall
	Dallas ISD parent		CEO, Hazel's Hot Shot
Carlos Marroquin		Suzanne Smith
	Substitute teacher		Adjunct professor--University of North Texas

District 2 Runoff Election

Results

Dallas Independent School District, District 2 Runoff Election, 1-year term, 2016
Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Dustin Marshall	50.36%	2,928
Mita Havlick	49.64%	2,886
Total Votes		5,814
Source: Dallas County Elections, "Unofficial Final Cumulative Results," accessed February 28, 2017

Candidates

Mita Havlick		Dustin Marshall
	Dallas ISD parent		CEO, Hazel's Hot Shot

District 4

Results

Dallas Independent School District, District 4 General Election, 3-year term, 2016
Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Jaime Resendez	56.78%	737
Camille White	31.43%	408
Omar Jimenez	11.79%	153
Total Votes		1,298
Source: Dallas County Elections, "Unofficial Final Cumulative Results," accessed February 28, 2017

Candidates

Omar Jimenez		Jaime Resendez		Camille White
	Student		Attorney		Public relations specialist

District 5

Results

Dallas Independent School District, District 5 General Election, 3-year term, 2016
Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Lew Blackburn Incumbent	51.59%	1,197
Marquis Hawkins	38.88%	902
Linda Wilkerson-Wynn	9.53%	221
Total Votes		2,320
Source: Dallas County Elections, "Unofficial Final Cumulative Results," accessed February 28, 2017

Candidates

Lew Blackburn		Marquis Hawkins		Linda Wilkerson-Wynn
	Incumbent Retired		Consultant

District 7

Results

Dallas Independent School District, District 7 General Election, 3-year term, 2016
Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Audrey Pinkerton	58.88%	1,668
Isaac Faz	41.12%	1,165
Total Votes		2,833
Source: Dallas County Elections, "Unofficial Final Cumulative Results," accessed February 28, 2017

Candidates

Isaac Faz		Audrey Pinkerton
	Associate chancellor of Public and Governmental Affairs-Dallas Community College		Business owner

Additional elections

See also: Texas elections, 2016

The Dallas ISD school board election shared a ballot with the Dallas municipal election.

Key deadlines

The following dates were key deadlines for Texas school board elections in 2016:

Deadline	Event
February 19, 2016	Candidate filing deadline
February 23, 2016	Deadline for write-in candidates
April 7, 2016	Pre-general election campaign finance deadline
April 19, 2016	Campaign finance report due
May 7, 2016	Election Day
May 18, 2016	Final day for canvassing of votes
July 15, 2016	Post-election campaign finance deadline

District map

Endorsements

Dustin Marshall was endorsed in District 2 by Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings, council member Jennifer Staubach Gates, County Judge Clay Jenkins (D), the Dallas Morning News, Dallas Kids First, and Educate Dallas.

Suzanne Smith was endorsed in District 2 by the National Education Association-Dallas, National Latino Peace Officers Association, Preston Hollow Democrats, council member Philip Kingston, and Tejano Democrats.

Omar Jimenez was endorsed in District 4 by Dallas County Tejano Democrats.

Jaime Resendez was endorsed in District 4 by the Dallas Morning News.

Marquis Hawkins was endorsed in District 5 by the Dallas Morning News, the Hispanic PAC of Dallas, Tejano Democrats of Dallas County, Dallas Kids First, South Oak Cliff Alumni Association, and the Southwest Coalition for Better Dallas Public Schools.

Audrey Pinkerton was endorsed in District 7 by Alliance AFT and Dallas City Council members Adam Medrano, Scott Griggs, Philip Kingston, and Robert Medrano.

Isaac Faz was endorsed in District 7 by State Rep. Rafael Anchia (D), State Rep. Roberto Alonzo (D), Dallas County Commissioner Elba Garcia, Dallas Mayor pro tem Monica Alonzo, Dallas council member Rick Callahan, former DISD school board president Ken Zornes, and various other community members and leaders.

For a list of Mita Havlick's supporters please click here.

Campaign finance

See also: List of school board campaign finance deadlines in 2016

School board candidates

Candidates received a total of $287,843.64 and spent a total of $153,219.10 as of April 18, 2016, according to the Dallas Independent School District.

Candidate	Contributions	Expenditures
District 2 (special)
Mita Havlick	$22,856.48	$5,363.94
Dustin Marshall	$54,075.00	$55,181.39
Carlos Marroquin	No finances reported.
Suzanne Smith	$11,475.00	$8,411.25
District 4
Omar Jimenez	$100.00	$127.65
Jaime Resendez	$43,282.61	$5,523.51
Camille White	$4,863.90	$1,023.30
District 5
Lew Blackburn	$21,375.00	$13,870.26
Marquis Hawkins	$44,418.15	$42,231.64
Linda Wilkerson-Wynn	No finances reported.
District 7
Isaac Faz	$67,260.00	$19,441.44
Audrey Pinkerton	$18,137.50	$2,044.72

Past elections

Information about earlier elections can be found by clicking [show] at the right.

2015 See also:Dallas Independent School District elections (2015) Dallas Independent School District, District 1 General Election, 3-year term, 2015 Party Candidate Vote % Votes      Nonpartisan Edwin Flores 59.7% 3,747      Nonpartisan Kyle Renard 40.3% 2,530 Total Votes 6,277 Source: Dallas Independent School District, "Meeting Minutes," accessed June 15, 2015 Dallas Independent School District, District 3 General Election, 3-year term, 2015 Party Candidate Vote % Votes      Nonpartisan Dan Micciche Incumbent 71.8% 3,347      Nonpartisan David Lewis 28.2% 1,312 Total Votes 4,659 Source: Dallas Independent School District, "Meeting Minutes," accessed June 15, 2015 Dallas Independent School District, District 9 General Election, 3-year term, 2015 Party Candidate Vote % Votes      Nonpartisan Bernadette Nutall Incumbent 53.7% 2,106      Nonpartisan Damarcus Offord 46.3% 1,816 Total Votes 3,922 Source: Dallas Independent School District, "Meeting Minutes," accessed June 15, 2015 2014 See also:Dallas Independent School District elections (2014) Runoff election Dallas Independent School District, District 6 Runoff Election, 3-year term, 2014 Party Candidate Vote % Votes      Nonpartisan Joyce Foreman 65.2% 1,588      Nonpartisan Bertha Bailey Whatley 34.8% 848 Total Votes 2,436 Source: Dallas County Elections, "Unofficial Combined Election Results," June 21, 2014 General election Dallas Independent School District, District 6 General Election, 3-year term, 2014 Party Candidate Vote % Votes      Nonpartisan Bertha Bailey Whatley 41.3% 974      Nonpartisan Joyce Foreman 36.4% 858      Nonpartisan Lew Blackburn, Jr. 12.8% 301      Nonpartisan Carlos Sherman 5.1% 120      Nonpartisan D. Marcus Ranger 4.4% 104 Total Votes 2,357 Source: Dallas County Elections, "Unofficial Cumulative Results," May 10, 2014 Dallas Independent School District, District 8 General Election, 3-year term, 2014 Party Candidate Vote % Votes      Nonpartisan Miguel Solis Incumbent 68.1% 515      Nonpartisan Kristi Lara 23.5% 178      Nonpartisan Richard P. Sheridan 8.3% 63 Total Votes 756 Source: Dallas County Elections, "Unofficial Cumulative Results," May 10, 2014 Note: Mike Morath won re-election in District 2 without opposition when he faced no opposition by the ballot deadline. Joyce Foreman and Bertha Bailey Whatley advanced to a runoff election for the District 6 seat on June 21, 2014. 2013 Dallas Independent School District, District 8 Special Election, Unexpired 1-year term, 2013 Party Candidate Vote % Votes      Nonpartisan Miguel Solis 66.2% 840      Nonpartisan Kristi Lara 33.8% 428 Total Votes 1,268 Source: Dallas County Elections, "Constitutional Amendment Election," November 12, 2013 2012 Dallas Independent School District, District 1 General Election, 3-year term, 2012 Party Candidate Vote % Votes      Nonpartisan Elizabeth Jones 52.3% 2,129      Nonpartisan Michael Greenberg 30% 1,222      Nonpartisan Jennifer Levy 14.7% 598      Nonpartisan Roland Love 2.9% 120 Total Votes 4,069 Source: Dallas County Elections, "2012 Joint Election," May 17, 2012 Dallas Independent School District, District 3 General Election, 3-year term, 2012 Party Candidate Vote % Votes      Nonpartisan Dan Micciche 63.9% 1,831      Nonpartisan Bruce Parrott 36.1% 1,033 Total Votes 2,864 Source: Dallas County Elections, "2012 Joint Election," May 17, 2012 Dallas Independent School District, District 9 General Election, 3-year term, 2012 Party Candidate Vote % Votes      Nonpartisan Bernadette Nutall Incumbent 63.1% 1,269      Nonpartisan Damarcus Offord 36.9% 742 Total Votes 2,011 Source: Dallas County Elections, "2012 Joint Election," May 17, 2012

What was at stake?

2016

Issues in the election

City Hall politics shadow races in Districts 7, 2

Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings

In the Oak Cliff area of Dallas, the race for the Dallas ISD District 7 seat drew attention from local political leaders. Dallas City Council members Scott Griggs, Philip Kingston, and Adam Medrano publicly endorsed District 7 candidate Audrey Pinkerton, while state Rep. Rafael Anchia (D-103) endorsed candidate Isaac Faz. The three city council members, who frequently voted in a bloc opposed to Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings, self-identified as "urbanist reformers" aimed at changing the status quo lingering in City Hall. Griggs, Kingston, and Medrano opposed Rawlings' defeated "home rule" proposal introduced in 2014. The proposal, had it succeeded, would have disbanded the DISD Board of Trustees, though Rawlings did not specify what structure would replace the board. In contrast, Anchia supported Rawlings and his home rule push.

The District 7 race, according to Kingston, was "a mirror image of the power struggle we’re having on the City Council. There is no difference. There is an established power structure that believes in control. And there are people that want to bring grassroots democracy to the DISD board — the same stuff we’re trying to bring to the Dallas City Council." Mayor Rawlings, commented on the race, saying, "the school board is too white and needs more qualified minority trustees like Faz"—a narrative dismissed by the opposing voting bloc. Pinkerton won the race, bringing the support of her city council endorsers into the school board room.

Dallas City Council member Phillip Kingston

In District 2, while the race was less contentious, the fight to replace former member Mike Morath was initially dominated by candidates Dustin Marshall and Suzanne Smith. Marshall was officially endorsed by city council member Jennifer Staubach Gates, a Rawlings supporter seen as a potential mayoral candidate. Gates, however, expressed a desire to work with any winning candidate. "All the political posturing might not yield the politicians’ desired results anyway. Some of the candidates Kingston has supported in the past have voted against him in key moments on the City Council," she stated. At the conclusion of general election, Smith was was no longer a front runner and instead Mita Havlick arose as Marshall's biggest opponent. Neither candidate won a majority of votes, prompting a runoff election on June 18, 2016, where Marshall ultimately defeated Havlick.

Candidates differ on Teacher Excellence Initiative

The Teacher Excellence Initiative (TEI) was a pay-for-performance program adopted by the Dallas ISD. The program evaluated teacher excellence based on student test scores, surveys, and classroom performance. Instructors accumulated points based on rankings in each of these three areas, and the rankings influenced the instructors' eligibility for pay raises. While Dallas ISD administrators expressed support for this system, the program faced criticism from other district players. Candidates for the school board race in 2016 had different views on continuing the TEI.

Carlos Marroquin was the sole candidate in District 2 to call for the program to be scrapped. In District 4, Omar Jimenez also called for the program to be thrown out, while the remaining candidates expressed a desire to restructure, improve, or overhaul the program. Neither Marroquin nor Jimenez were elected to the board, and the winners in the race fell among those seeking a compromise in the program's continuation.

Trustee vacates seat

Dallas ISD trustee Mike Morath was appointed to lead the Texas Education Agency in December 2015. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) tapped Morath to replace commissioner Michael Williams, leading to Morath's resignation from the District 2 seat. A special election for the seat was held in conjunction with the general election on May 7, 2016. Morath was a supporter of the Teacher Excellence Initiative (TEI) and encouraged the expansion of early childhood programs in the district. Dustin Marshall defeated three fellow candidates to win the one-year term in District 2. Marshall was also in favor of continuing the TEI, but expressed a desire to reform the program.

Issues in the district

Board approves $1.4 billion budget

The Dallas ISD school board passed a $1.4 billion budget for the 2016-2017 school year. This is roughly $300 million less than the $1.7 billion dollar budget in the 2015-2016 school year. While the budget gave hourly workers a 2 percent salary raise, it also cut 260 jobs district-wide. These job cuts mainly affected salaried guest teachers with one-year term contracts and assistant principals.

There was some controversy surrounding this budget during the spring of 2016. An additional $1.3 million was added to the budget to raise the minimum pay of roughly 650 district maintenance and operations employees. With the passage of the budget, the pay scale floor for these Dallas County workers was raised from about $8.00 per hour to a minimum of $10.37 per hour—a "living wage"—according to the Dallas Morning News. Board incumbent Miguel Solis was a proponent of the raise, saying, "I think it’s great that the administration is considering it. Dallas ISD has an active role to play as it relates to wage stagnation in our city and our county.” The increase was also supported by Angela Davis, president of the National Education Association of Dallas, and Rena Honea, president of the Alliance/AFT employees association. Both individuals cited the income struggles hourly workers faced as the main catalyst for their organizational support.

School construction investigation concluded

An EF-3 tornado tore through North Texas in December 2015, causing damage to homes, businesses, and schools. Shields Elementary School, located south of Dallas in the Red Oak Independent School District, sustained significant damage when an outer wall collapsed in the storm's wake. Subsequently, Red Oak had the school's campus inspected by a third-party engineer, citing questions about the school's construction, which was completed by Ratcliff Constructors. Ultimately, the wall was found to have been improperly secured. Ratcliff agreed to pay for repairs to the school building, to be completed by a different contractor.

These events prompted concern about the quality of construction in the Dallas ISD, where nine public schools were built by Ratcliff Constructors and another seven were renovated by the company. Three of these 16 schools were inspected in April when the school board was scheduled to vote on another construction contract with the company. Board members Miguel Solis and Joyce Foreman expressed discontent with the district's continued use of Ratcliff in building projects after a third investigation in the Eagle Mountain-Saginaw Independent School District uncovered an improperly secured wall built by the same corporation. That wall was repaired, but the investigation continued.

The school board voted to approve a new contract with Ratcliff after the completion of the investigation. All of the district's campuses were deemed to be safe, and Ratcliff was hired to build an addition at Casa View Elementary School.

Approval for new district headquarters

On April 28, 2016, school board trustees voted 5-3 to allocate $46.5 million for the purchase of a new district headquarters. The district will purchase a 16-floor office building on the city's north side holding administrative offices, a welcome center, staff workspaces, and a student records center. Funds for the project will come from the sale of administrative offices made unnecessary by the purchase, $25 million set aside for a new building, and $11.9 million in reserve funds.

Supporters of the purchase cited $27.7 million in cost savings by 2021 based on district estimates. District 3 school board trustee Dan Micciche argued that these savings would be passed along to improve school operations. Miguel Solis, the District 8 school board trustee, stated that the new headquarters would be more efficient and cost-effective than the city's existing administrative offices. Additional board members Bernadette Nutall, Joyce Foreman, and Lew Blackburn opposed the purchase over concerns that the money saved on administrative costs would not be used to improve school buildings. Foreman argued that the district would pay twice the $23 million assessed value of the purchased building. Parents with students at South Oak Cliff High School also expressed frustration with the district's decision to use funds for a new headquarters rather than a new high school.

DISD schools continues skipping lockdown drills

The Dallas Independent School District requires that all schools conduct one lockdown drill every semester. But in 2013, it was discovered by NBC 5 Investigates that approximately 75 district schools did not record security drills or did not perform them. The district pledged to correct the problem. In 2015, the media source checked back in with the district and found another 70 schools lacking records to indicate whether or not they had performed security drills. Once again, the district promised it would take action to fix the problem. In March 2016, NBC 5 Investigates found records indicating that three district schools still did not record lockdown drills in the fall semester: Barbara Manns Education Center, Robert E. Lee Elementary, and Birdie Alexander Elementary schools. The district later said that Robert E. Lee Elementary scheduled a lockdown drill soon thereafter and that Birdie Alexander School actually completed a drill in January 2016. According to Stephanie Elizade, the DISD chief of school leadership, principals were going to face disciplinary measures if they did not hold drills during the 2016 school year.

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About the district

See also: Dallas Independent School District, Texas

Dallas Independent School District is located in Dallas County, Texas.

Dallas Independent School District is located in Dallas, the county seat of Dallas County, Texas. Dallas was home to 1,281,047 residents in 2014, according to the United States Census Bureau. The district was the second-largest school district in the state in the 2013–2014 school year and served 159,713 students.

Dallas Independent School District received a Met Standard designation from the Texas Education Agency in the state's 2014 accountability report. District schools met 94 percent of indicators established by state officials to measure academic progress. The district also surpassed target scores for student achievement, student progress, closing performance gaps and postsecondary readiness.

Demographics

Dallas outperformed Texas as a whole in terms of higher education achievement in 2013. The United States Census Bureau found that 29.7 percent of Dallas residents aged 25 years and older had attained a bachelor's degree, compared to 27.1 percent for Texas as a whole. The median household income in Dallas was $43,359, compared to $52,576 statewide. The poverty rate was 24.1 percent, while it was 17.2 percent for the entire state.

Racial Demographics, 2010
Race	Dallas (%)	Texas (%)
White	50.7	70.4
Black or African American	25.0	11.8
American Indian and Alaska Native	0.7	0.7
Asian	2.9	3.8
Two or More Races	2.6	2.7
Hispanic or Latino	42.4	37.6

Presidential votes, 2000-2012
Year	Democratic vote (%)	Republican vote (%)
2012	57.1	41.6
2008	57.1	41.8
2004	48.9	50.3
2000	44.8	52.5

Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here.

Recent news

The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms 'Dallas Independent School District' 'Texas'. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.

Dallas Independent School District elections (2016) - Google News

See also

Dallas Independent School District	Texas	School Boards
Dallas Independent School District elections (2015) List of school districts in Texas	Texas school board elections, 2016 Public education in Texas Local ballot measures, Texas	School board elections, 2016 School board elections, 2015 School board election data analysis, 2016 School board election data analysis, 2015

External links

• Dallas Independent School District