Fewer than 10,000 voters decided who the latest additions to the Dallas ISD Board of Trustees would be, charging them with helping manage a nearly $2 billion budget amid poor student achievement outcomes.
Candidates Lance Currie (District 1) and Ed Turner (District 9) beat out their opponents for the school board’s two open seats in Saturday’s election, per Dallas County’s unofficial election results. Both men have children attending school in the district.
Dallas ISD is the second-largest public school district in Texas and has struggled to provide the students in its care with a quality education, at least according to the state’s accountability metrics.
According to the latest Texas Education Agency (TEA) accountability report, only 41% of Dallas ISD students scored at grade level on their STAAR exams during the 2021-2022 school year, and nearly 20% of graduating seniors that year did not earn a diploma in four years.
Some 5,978 district voters cast a ballot in District 1, and 2,594 voted in District 9. Currie won with 52.3% of the vote. Turner proved out in his race with 60.4%.
Currie, a construction and real estate lawyer, defeated education nonprofit director Maureen Milligan and IT professional Chris Roberts. District 1’s current trustee, Edwin Flores, endorsed Currie in his bid.
“I’ve been reflecting much of the day on this campaign and the tasks ahead,” Currie wrote on Facebook Sunday evening. “The feeling is hard to describe. It’s the culmination of a goal set many years ago, joy and excitement, and the incredible weight that comes with the privilege of service. It’s a weight I carry gladly, but not lightly. I will do everything I can to continue lifting our public schools that I love so much.”
Turner was also endorsed by the sitting trustee in his district: board president Justin Henry, who was named The Dallas Express Bad Apple of Q1 last year because of the more than 10,000 students in District 9 attending schools that earned a D or F in student achievement outcomes on their TEA accountability reports for the 2021-2022 school year.
An insurance broker by trade, Turner managed to beat out a more crowded fielding, getting more votes than Dallas ISD parent and instructor-liaison Oralia Alonso, Garland ISD fine arts teacher Da’On Boulanger-Chatman, and community organizer LaKashia Wallace.
“One thing I can feel is hopeful because I know who Ed is,” Henry said at an election watch party Saturday night, according to KERA News.
Current trustee Dan Micciche of District 3 was also up for re-election, but he ran opposed, so the district did not appear on the ballot. Micciche will be serving a fourth term on the board of trustees.