Jack Lowe and several of the Dallas Independent School District trustees keep insisting their push to extend term limits, from three to four years, is plenty legal. Which is why, at 5:30 p.m. today, the board will indeed vote on a resolution that does just that -- gives them a bonus year. You can read the resolution yourself and see the justification for the move: Section 11.065 of the Texas Education Code, so cited in this October 21 memo from attorney Rolando Rios -- the same attorney who, in 2006, helped trustee Jerome Garza more or less swipe some of Carla Ranger's district without telling Ranger, just because.
But Section 11.065 of the TEC, which does say that "a trustee of a school district ... may not serve a term that exceeds four years," dates back to 2003. And Carla Ranger and others have said, repeatedly, that if DISD wanted to extend the trustees' terms, well, it should have done so before December 31, 2007. But now, it's too late: As Section 11.059(e) of the Texas Education Code says, pretty plainly, "Not later than December 31, 2007, the board of trustees may adopt a resolution changing the length of the terms of its trustees." And November 20, 2008, looks plenty later. Besides, how many times does Ranger have to say it: "The public does not trust the Board to do the right thing for the right reason. I share this belief based on my own experience as a Trustee." Meeting's today. Tune in. --Robert Wilonsky
