By BJ Austin, KERA News
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/kera/local-kera-794464.mp3
Dallas, TX – Dallas School Board members will stay on the job longer. KERA's BJ Austin says the Board voted to extend their terms from three to FOUR years. But the vote was not unanimous.
Board members Adam Medrano and Carla Ranger vote no. Ranger chastised colleague and attorneys for pushing this forward without making sure it's even legal.
Ranger: There was a time when Dallas ISD and other Districts could have made that change. That time expired December 31, 2007.
Lawyers and other Board members say a 2003 "special" law trumps the deadline. Trustee Ron Price admitted the timing of the vote in the middle of a financial crisis is not good ---but:
Price: It was not a plot taken for this time. We had talked about this back in June, July and August trying to work on the language, the legal language to do so.
But School District critic Carlos Quintanilla doesn't buy it, and is headed to court.
Quintanilla: This is like saying we're going to cancel elections because we want to cancel elections - without the will of the people. It's just shocking and disgusting.
Three Trustees will no longer face re election in May: Edwin Flores, Leigh Ann Ellis, and Ron Price.
email: baustin@kera.org